Nebraska Legislature Advances Scaled Back Property Tax Relief Plan

Governor Pillen Issues Statement Thanking Bipartisan Coalition of Senators for First-Round Advancement of Consensus Property Tax Relief Plan
 
LINCOLN, NE – Today, Governor Jim Pillen issued the following statement after a bipartisan coalition of senators voted to advance property tax relief legislation:
 
“I am grateful to Senator Lou Ann Linehan for her strong leadership in achieving this first step toward property tax relief. Although there is much work yet to do to achieve a victory for Nebraskans facing spiraling property tax bills, this vote is a step in the right direction. I look forward to partnering with good faith members of the Legislature to continue the work of delivering transformative property tax reform and bringing this consensus bill into law.”
 
The state senators who voted to cut Nebraskans’ property taxes and limit government spending are as follows:
 
Senator Lou Ann Linehan
Senator Ray Aguilar
Senator Joni Albrecht
Speaker John Arch
Senator Christy Armendariz
Senator Beau Ballard
Senator Carolyn Bosn
Senator Eliot Bostar
Senator Bruce Bostelman
Senator Tom Brandt
Senator Tom Brewer
Senator Rob Clements
Senator Barry DeKay
Senator Myron Dorn
Senator Rob Dover
Senator Steve Erdman
Senator Steve Halloran
Senator Ben Hansen
Senator Brian Hardin
Senator Rick Holdcroft
Senator Jana Hughes
Senator Teresa Ibach
Senator Mike Jacobson
Senator Kathleen Kauth
Senator Loren Lippincott
Senator John Lowe
Senator Mike McDonnell
Senator Fred Meyer
Senator Mike Moser
Senator Dave Murman
Senator Rita Sanders
Senator Tony Vargas
Senator Brad von Gillern
Senator Anna Wishart

Open Sky Reacts to LB 34 not advancing in advance of the follow up legislation
LINCOLN — Below are statements attributable to OpenSky Policy Institute Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Firestone regarding LB 34, the proposal debated on Tuesday. 

“The legislature made a wise decision this evening by not voting to advance legislation that entails a regressive tax shift with poorly targeted property relief directing tax cuts to wealthy property owners at the expense of everyday families. All Nebraskans benefit from strong public schools, and we’re pleased that our legislators showed their commitment to sustainable, predictable education funding directed by locally elected officials with the unique interests of their communities in mind.” 

“We recognize that there is broad consensus among Nebraska’s legislators to address property taxes and understand the complexity of the issue. We look forward to being part of continued discussions on how to increase state investments in K-12 education without shifting our tax code to be even more regressive.”

“With regards to the amended legislation that advanced to Select File, we look forward to a robust fiscal note and additional modeling to determine potential impacts of hard caps on cities and counties. We appreciate the additional transparency that changing delivery of the 1107 tax credit will bring, but want to ensure that the source of funding for that measure doesn’t come at the expense of the most vulnerable Nebraskans.”