The state supreme court has held Nebraska’s Campaign Finance Limitation Act (CFLA) unconstitutional. The CFLA allowed candidates participating in the public financing program to receive additional public funds if their privately-funded opponents exceeded certain spending limits.

The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission issued a statement in August 2011 that it would not enforce the CFLA for the 2012 elections after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a similar Arizona law. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning then filed an action asking the state supreme court to rule on the CFLA’s constitutionality.

The supreme court also determined that the public financing portion of the CFLA was not severable from the other provisions of the law, including those providing for aggregate contribution limits and rules governing acceptance of contributions from independent groups, and declared the entire law unconstitutional.