With Sine Die adjournment less than a month away, the Legislature worked late into the evening again last week – and the next two weeks will be largely the same. In his weekly floor announcement, Speaker Hilgers laid out the schedule for the week and indicated his intentions are to adjourn the body before the 90-day deadline, but no date has been set. Senators are starting to feel the pace quicken as the clock continues to wind down and several filibusters are being run on the more controversial priority bills left to be debated (eight hours of debate on General File, for example).
View Agenda for Week of the 10th
Sen. Stinner, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, provided a series of handouts to his colleagues related to the federal stimulus funds being sent to school districts and communities across the state. He also spoke to the amount of money being spent this session compared to the decade prior: over the past ten years, a total of $227M was sent to the floor for spending bills. Comparably, this year alone – and more “A"-bills remain to be discussed – the body has already appropriated $245M on bills outside of the budget. Some of the big-ticket items being advanced this session include a phase-out of taxation on Social Security benefits; corporate income tax parity; elimination of income tax in military retirement; and $40M for broadband technology grants in un-and under-served areas.
Click to read Speaker Hilgers' Memo
LR 11CA was discussed this week. It is the proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit the state and all local political subdivisions from imposing a tax on personal income, corporate income, personal and real property, inheritance tax, and sales tax. The Legislature would be required to enact a consumption tax. The consumption tax will apply to the purchases of services and new goods, except for fuel. As expected, it didn't pass but it's part of the ongoing frustration by the ag community with property taxes. BCI Chair Matt Williams did a great job laying out the $10 billion impact this would have on the insurance industry in Nebraska and promised they would domicile somewhere else. Not to mention the service tax for your insurance activities. You may have seen gubernatorial candidates Sen. Brett Lindstrom and Charles Herbster have expressed support. It's getting late, but there could be a move to put forward an initiative petition on the issue for the 2022 ballot.
Click to see Priority Bills
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