Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Late in the week of Sept. 6, and after considerable debate and negotiation, the redistricting committee introduced its bills outlining proposed new districts for the election of Congressional, Legislative, Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, Board of Regents and State Board of Education members. Our special session relative to redistricting commenced on Sept. 13. That same day, we began three days of hearings on those bills in Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha, where many Nebraskans weighed...
The special session of the Nebraska Legislature began Monday, Sept. 13, for the sole purpose of redistricting, along with various confirmations of gubernatorial appointments. The nine-member redistricting committee, of which I am a member, has been hard at work for several weeks prior to the session. The redistricting committee was tasked with drawing up several district maps, including, US Congress, Nebraska Legislature, State Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, University of Nebraska Boa...
I would consider the recently completed legislative session successful for Nebraska taxpayers. Among other items, we passed, and the governor signed into law, bills to provide a sales tax exemption on municipal water, tax relief for military retirement recipients, tax relief for social security recipients and income tax relief for corporate taxpayers. On the property tax front, we provided a valuation reduction for agland in the context of school bond repayment, we added additional dollars to...
The Legislature continues to work through the stack of priority bills, sometimes working into the evening and adjourning between 8 and 10 p.m. Since my last column, we’ve debated a couple of bills related to property tax relief. The first, Senator Wayne’s LB 24, provides a sales tax exemption for municipal water bills. I had hoped that this would be packaged with my LB 2, which provides a reduction in agland valuations for school bonds approved after the effective date of the act. One would pro...
The Legislature debated several of my bills last week. On Tuesday afternoon, we debated my amendment to my LB 561, a bill to further define and implement the voter-approved initiative on casino gaming at racetracks. As 70% of the tax revenue derived from these casinos is dedicated to property tax relief, it is important to get this done right. Gambling is a divisive issue in our Legislature and the debate reflected that. After the question was divided on the issue of electronic keno, we spent a...
Last week, we began debate on the budget, after receiving a briefing from the Appropriations Committee chairman, Senator Stinner. The budget for the next year calls for an increase in the general fund expenditures of roughly $9.7 billion, growing by around 1.7% per year from previous budgets. Key provisions of the budget include substantial increases to several funds. The most important of these increases are the two funds relating to property tax relief. The proposed budget increases the Proper...
The work of the Legislature is now about getting bills to the floor for debate by the entire body. And that generally means a priority designation. Priority bills, one per senator, two per committee and twenty-five for the speaker, have now been designated. Senator Geist prioritized my LB 408, which provides for a 3 percent limit on annual increases in property tax askings. It may be debated on the floor of the legislature next week. Senator Slama prioritized my LB 139, which provides a measure...
The legislature has wrapped up most committee hearings, and began half-day floor debate this week. Full-day floor debate will begin next week. In the meantime, committees are voting on which bills will be moved on to general file. By the time you read this, most priority designations will have been announced. The determination by individual senators, committees and the speaker as to which bills get a priority designation is extremely important, as bills without a priority designation will...
On Feb. 26, the Revenue Committee voted to advance LB 408, as amended by AM 371, on a 7-1 vote. The amended version of the bill would limit the annual increase in property tax askings to no more than 3%, with some exceptions. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, commented on its advancement. “Property tax relief requires a multi-pronged approach. One approach must be to place reasonable restrictions on property taxes. And that’s what this bill does.” Briese continued, “This...
Last week, the Nebraska Unicameral convened the 107th Legislature. On the first day, we elected officers. Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln was unanimously elected speaker and I am very glad to have him serving us. I was honored to be re-elected as chair of the General Affairs Committee, a post I have held the last two years. The General Affairs committee handles subjects as wide ranging as breweries and distilleries, gambling, tobacco, intellectual property, libraries and cemeteries. I have enjoyed...
The legislative session will begin Wednesday, Jan 6. On that day, newly-elected members will be sworn in and the speaker, chair and vice chair of the Executive Committee and committee chairs will be elected. What happens after that may depend on the status of the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, we would then introduce bills for 10 days, do some preliminary work including adoption of rules and committee assignments, with committee hearings beginning around the second week But this year,...
The current legislative session officially concluded on day 60, which was Thursday, Aug. 13. We concluded the session by hearing remarks from the six term limited and outgoing senators and passing several bills through final reading. One bill we passed was LB 1107, a comprehensive package of property tax relief and business incentives. The focus on property tax reform this past session began as the Revenue Committee’s LB 974. It was a combination of foundation aid for all school districts in N...
The last two weeks in the Legislature have seen a flurry of activity, as senators worked hard to get a great number of bills passed in a short number of days. There were some heated debates on the floor and emotions ran very hot for a few days, with contentious issues turning into some personal squabbles between senators on either side of those issues. With so much to accomplish in such a short time, perhaps this should be expected, but I am always hopeful that cooler heads will prevail and we...
The Nebraska Legislature reconvened on July 20, after a break of more than four months due to the pandemic. When we recessed, we had 17 working days remaining to debate and pass legislation, and those days have been moved to late July through early August in order to complete our work. While things could always change again, we are currently slated to work through the 13th of August to finish out the 60 working days of our session. In the intervening weeks and months, many Nebraskans have had...
On Monday of this week, Speaker Scheer announced the Legislature would return from our extended adjournment on July 20. I believe that this is an appropriate time to allow the curve in Nebraska to flatten and to give senators and staff time to prepare to finish our session for this year. I am grateful for the time laid out before us to work on how the Legislature can best set up the state for success as we emerge from the conditions we have been under. The top item on my list of priorities...
By now, all registered voters in Nebraska should have had the opportunity to fill out an application for an early (absentee) ballot. That application should be mailed to your county’s Election Commissioner, which for most folks reading this will be your county clerk. Once you have your ballot, please be sure that it is received by your county offices by May 12. I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage all of you reading to exercise your Constitutional right to vote. I won’t use this space...
In the last two weeks, it feels, in some ways, as though nothing has really changed, but in some ways, things seem to be changing by the minute. I reached out to some friends in the agribusiness and small business communities and compiled some information for small business owners relating to resources available to you. Businesses, including farms, with less than 500 employees, qualify for Paycheck Protection Program Loans, to keep employees on payroll, under the $349 billion Small Business...
The Nebraska Legislature remains adjourned until further notice. However, just over a week ago, we reconvened for three days to approve an emergency request from the governor to help fund the state response to COVID-19. The bill appropriates $83 million toward medical needs, protective measures, equipment,and programs related to the virus. It passed unanimously. That’s a statement I can rarely make, especially in these polarized times. I am proud to say legislators from across the aisle came t...
COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, has begun to dominate the headlines. To say that events are unfolding rapidly on a global, national, state and even local level, would seem an enormous understatement. We are in uncharted waters, with many unknowns. But the goal needs to be to reduce the spread and impact as best we can, in order to protect the most vulnerable among us. That means adhering to the recommendations of our experts on issues such as hygiene and social distancing. Besides the obvious...
In the town halls I’ve held across the 41st district, as well as visits at the Capitol in Lincoln, many of you have brought up housing. Rural workforce housing is among the top issues holding Nebraska back from our true economic potential. Certainly, the high burden of property taxes across Nebraska is having a negative impact on the availability of rural housing: not only are property taxes high in our small towns, but the ripple effects of high property taxes on the economy are felt hard in r...
The Revenue Committee’s property tax/education funding reform bill, LB 974, was brought out of committee on a 6-2 vote last week. LB 974 will inject additional state dollars into education funding. By the third year of implementation, it will provide more than $200 million per year in additional funding to our schools to provide property tax relief for hard working Nebraskans. It will accomplish this by requiring the state to provide over $2,000 per student in foundation aid by that third y...
In the last two weeks, a lot of things have happened at the Legislature in Lincoln, and at the same time, very little has happened. A number of good bills have advanced: supporting victims of human trafficking, providing an income tax break to military retirees and others. But we haven’t had the opportunity yet to give an up-or-down vote on any of the bills dealing directly with property tax relief. The session is still young and I am hopeful that we will get something meaningful moved forward t...
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, Governor Ricketts presented his State of the State Address to the Nebraska Legislature. The beginning of his speech focused on the events of last year. Although there was much devastation, he emphasized how Nebraskans responded with determination and generosity. A recent federal report pegged the losses stemming from last year’s weather at more than $3.4 billion. This figure does not include all the damages to the private sector, creating hardship for many homeowners, busi...
I first want to extend my wishes that everyone had a Merry Christmas, and a nice holiday season with family and friends, as well as to wish a healthy and prosperous New Year to everyone. The 2020 legislative session convened at 10 a.m., on Jan. 8. The first several days of the session will consist mostly of bill introduction. Bills can be introduced during the first 10 working days of the session, which this year will run until Jan. 23. Debate on carryover legislation - bills from last year...
