‘Third time is the charm': EPIC 2.0 again pauses petition circulation, aims for 2028 ballot

Organizers behind a petition that sought to ban the state from collecting property, income and inheritance taxes are pausing signature collection.

The EPIC Option group announced last summer that it would try again to collect enough support from Nebraska voters to put the measure on the ballot. Labeled “EPIC 2.0,” the group sought to cut the state’s reliance on property, income and inheritance taxes and lean into consumption and excise taxes.

Steve Jessen, the president of the EPIC Option group, wrote in an update to the petition’s website that he does not expect circulators to collect the number of signatures needed, based on the number of weekly notarized petitions they have collected.

“As a result, volunteer signature collection for the 2026 initiative has paused. This decision does not end EPIC Option; it marks a reset and a stronger path forward with the launch of EPIC Option 3.0. EPIC Option 3.0 remains fully committed to eliminating Nebraska’s property, income, and inheritance taxes,” Jessen wrote.

He wrote that the third time will be the charm, “because no ballot initiative has successfully gathered enough signatures using only volunteers since 1966.” The group plans to use paid circulators when it tries to get the measure on the 2028 ballot.

“Our immediate goal is to raise $1.86 million to pay circulators to collect 160,000 signatures. If just 8,000 Nebraskans donate $250, Nebraska Second House will raise $2 million dollars. This is a small investment compared to the annual tax burden that will be eliminated,” Jessen wrote.

The petition sought to create a constitutional amendment, which required valid signatures from 10% of Nebraska’s voters — around 125,000 people. Organizers would have also needed to collect valid signatures from 5% of registered voters in at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.

A similar attempt failed in 2024 when the group failed to collect enough signatures to turn into the Secretary of State’s Office for verification, even though it had spent a year and a half circulating petitions. The campaign primarily relied on grassroots, volunteer efforts to collect signatures until late 2023, when the group spent $1 million on a petition signature collection company to secure more support in the state’s urban areas.

Petition sponsors pointed to two general reasons for the 2024 petition’s demise – “misinformation” from EPIC opponents and the lack of funding. The financial pitfall is referenced on the website for the new petition effort, where organizers wrote, “One critical factor is essential for implementing this plan – funding.”

“If everyone who signed the initial EPIC Option petitions donated just $250.00, we are confident we’d have the funding needed to successfully implement the plan," the website states.

During the 2024 petition campaign, several groups rallied opposition against the consumption tax idea. The Tax Foundation published a report, finding the EPIC consumption tax would need to be around 21.6% or higher to cover the abolished property, income and inheritance taxes. The foundation’s estimate is quite larger than the 7.5% rate the EPIC team estimated, which the Tax Foundation said was based on “flawed calculations.”

Several former state senators, the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and other statewide groups formed an opposing group called “No New Taxes” to tamp down on the 2024 EPIC team’s campaign.