Title
A Constitutional amendment to prohibit the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education or public contracting; to apply the amendment only to action after the amendment’s effective date; to allow bona fide qualifications based on sex that are reasonably necessary; to exempt any court order or consent decree that is in force as of the effective date of this amendment; to provide an exception for certain federal programs; to define state for purposes of the amendment; to provide for remedies; to make the amendment self-executing; to make provision in the event of conflict with federal law or the United States Constitution; and to provide for severability.
Text of Measure
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska that, Article I of the Constitution of Nebraska be amended by adding a Section 30 as follows:
(1) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
(2) This section shall apply only to action taken after the section’s effective date.
(3) Nothing in this section prohibits bona fide qualifications based on sex that are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
(4) Nothing in this section shall invalidate any court order or consent decree that is in force as of the effective date of this section.
(5) Nothing in this section prohibits action that must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, if ineligibility would result in a loss of federal funds to the state.
(6) For purposes of this section, state shall include, but not be limited to: (a) the State of Nebraska; (b) any agency, department, office, board, commission, committee, division, unit, branch, bureau, council, or sub-unit of the state; (c) any public institution of higher education; (d) any political subdivision of or within the state; and (e) any government institution or instrumentally of or within the state.
(7) The remedies available for violations of this section shall be the same, regardless of the injured party’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, as are otherwise available for violations of Nebraska’s antidiscrimination law.
(8) This section shall be self executing. If any part or parts of this section are found to be in conflict with federal law or the Constitution of the United States, this section shall be implemented to the maximum extent that federal law and the Constitution of the United States permit. Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.
