News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2024

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kate Heltzel
Nebraska Legislature
Unicameral Information Office
(402) 471-2788
uio@leg.ne.gov

Sen. John Arch invites students to youth legislature

High school students are invited to take on the role of state senators at the Unicameral Youth Legislature June 9-14. At the State Capitol, student senators will sponsor bills, conduct committee hearings, debate legislation and discover the unique process of the nation’s only unicameral.

The Unicameral Youth Legislature gives behind-the-scenes access to students who have an interest in public office, government, politics, law, public policy, debate or public speaking. Students will learn about the inner workings of the Legislature directly from senators and staff.

“Every year, this program gives students an excellent opportunity to learn about our democratic system of government in Nebraska,” according to Senator John Arch. “By participating in the Unicameral Youth Legislature, students learn first-hand of the challenges and rewards experienced by those elected to public service.”

The Office of the Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature coordinates the Unicameral Youth Legislature. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Extension 4-H Youth Development Office coordinates housing and recreational activities as part of the Big Red Summer Camps program.

To learn more about the program, go to www.NebraskaLegislature.gov/uyl or call (402) 471-2788. The deadline for registration is May 20.

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2023

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kate Heltzel
Nebraska Legislature
Unicameral Information Office
(402) 471-2788
uio@leg.ne.gov


Sen. John Arch invites students to youth legislature

High school students are invited to take on the role of state senators at the Unicameral Youth Legislature June 11-14. At the State Capitol, student senators will sponsor bills, conduct committee hearings, debate legislation and discover the unique process of the nation’s only unicameral.

The Unicameral Youth Legislature gives behind-the-scenes access to students who have an interest in public office, government, politics, law, public policy, debate or public speaking. Students will learn about the inner workings of the Legislature directly from senators and staff.

“The Unicameral Youth Legislature gives participants first-hand experience in Nebraska’s distinctive legislative process,” said Senator John Arch. “Students interested in future public service will gain a valuable lesson about our democratic system of government and will learn about the challenges and rewards of making public policy.”

The Office of the Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature coordinates the Unicameral Youth Legislature. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Extension 4-H Youth Development Office coordinates housing and recreational activities as part of the Big Red Summer Camps program.

To learn more about the program, go to www.NebraskaLegislature.gov/uyl or call (402) 471-2788. The deadline for registration is May 22.

As of this posting, the Legislature is poised to enact significant tax reform resulting in nearly $6 billion dollars going back to taxpayers over the next six years. Robust revenue growth and responsibly restrained spending has resulted in a record amount of available funds in the state’s coffers.

Two bills, LB 754 and LB 243, represent two pieces of a greater overall legislative package designed to make sweeping changes to Nebraska’s tax system and its approach to education funding. The Legislature recently debated and advanced both bills from General File, the first round of debate, with overwhelming support.

LB 754 would result in about $3 billion in tax cuts over six years and is comprised of the following components:

• Reduces gradually the top personal income tax rate from 6.27% to 3.99% by 2027. The corporate tax rate would also be lowered to 3.99% by 2027;
• Phases out the income tax on Social Security, making this retirement income 100% exempt from state taxes by the 2024 tax year;
• Exempts from state income taxes, federal pension benefits received by retirees who don’t receive Social Security;
• Allows for tax credits for parents with children in childcare, for people who donate to childcare programs and for people who operate or work for childcare programs;
• Allows taxpayers to deduct from their federal adjusted growth income either the standard deduction or federal itemized deduction plus the total amount of state and local property taxes paid, whichever is greater;
• Provides for a deduction for corporations for research and experimental expenditures; and
• Establishes a 15-day grace period before out-of-state workers are subject to Nebraska income taxes.

In an effort to mirror the relief provided by the income tax changes, LB 243 would also result in $3 billion in property tax relief by doing the following:

• Increases the amount the state contributes to the property tax credit program from $313 million this year to $560 million by 2029. The fund will continue to increase every year afterwards by the same percentage the statewide total assessed value of property increases from the prior year. While the state doesn’t levy a property tax, the property tax credit program provides for a direct reduction in the amount a property taxpayer owes local governing bodies;
• Removes the growth cap under the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act to allow dedicated funds in this program to also grow at the same percentage rate as statewide assessed valuation. Under this program, taxpayers can receive income tax credits to offset the amount of property taxes paid to school districts;
• Limits the annual growth of school revenues to 3%, with exceptions for growth in student population, the number of limited English proficiency learners and poverty students; and
• Eliminates the property tax levy authority for community colleges and provides for state funding with the exception of allowing community colleges to levy property taxes for capital improvements and to fill in gaps should the state not meet its funding obligations.

Nebraska’s corporate and income taxes are not competitive with surrounding states and ever-increasing property taxes are driving people out of our great state. With an unprecedented surplus, Nebraska is in a unique situation and now is the time to resist more government spending and give that money back to the taxpayers.

Today the Legislature is finishing up two weeks of all day committee hearings. Holding full days of hearings is not customary practice but was implemented this session to assess how best to use the Legislature’s limited time. At the beginning of a session, bills are going through the committee process and there are very few items reported to the floor and available for debate. This results in idle time at the start of a session and long days at the end as we scramble to accomplish as much as we can before adjourning for the year. Next week the Legislature will resume its traditional schedule of floor debate in the mornings and public hearings in the afternoon.

While it remains to be seen if this experiment provides more time for valuable floor debate, during these first few weeks of public hearings, the standing committees of the Legislature have heard an unprecedented number of bills. By the end of today, 309 different measures will have been the subject of a hearing, open for public testimony. Some of these hearings brought out hundreds of citizens to the State Capitol, with senators receiving public input through the lunch hour and late into the evenings. In addition to in-person testimony, comments on these bills submitted through the Legislature’s online comment option have totaled more than 9,000. Nebraskans are engaged and the Legislature is listening.

The first session of the 108th Legislature is well-underway, having convened on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January (January 4th) as required by the Nebraska Constitution. Not only did the start of the session see the swearing in of a new Governor, sixteen new senators joined the Legislature as well. The first three weeks of the session has included the assignment of committees and the election of legislative leadership. I was named the Speaker of the Legislature and am honored to have the opportunity to serve in that role for the next two years. Members have also debated the adoption of the permanent rules of legislative procedure and of course have introduced new legislation. The last day of bill introduction was January 18th and over 800 measures were introduced this session. Next week the fourteen legislative standing committees will begin the process of conducting public hearings on each and every measure introduced. While members of the Legislature always welcome the chance to personally interact with citizens who are able to testify at a public hearing, there is now an option to provide comments on bills online once the bill has been scheduled for a hearing. You can get more information about pending legislation on the Legislature’s webpage: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/ and of course, you are always welcome to contact my office.

The second session of the One-Hundred and Seventh Legislature has come to an end, with the body adjourning Sine Die on April 20, 2022.  The second session, which lasts 60 days, is generally termed the “short” session, while the 90-day sessions occurring in odd-numbered years are known as “long” sessions.  Despite this year being a “short” session, it was not short on long nights, challenging subject matter, contentious debates and money.

It can generally be said that there is no such thing as too much money, but after this session, I think you would find many senators willing to debate that statement.  With a much better than expected economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and an huge influx of federal funds, the Legislature was in the unusual and difficult position of deciding how those funds should be dealt with.  As you can imagine, there was no shortage of suggestions on how the Legislature should tackle this issue.

The Nebraska Constitution requires the state to have a balanced General Fund Budget and determining how to craft the budget is certainly a balancing act. Senators must always keep in mind that these are taxpayers’ dollars and we’ve been elected to protect and spend those dollars wisely.  A balance must be found between providing much-needed tax relief, investing in the state’s future growth, ensuring effective and sustainable government programs and maintaining enough of a safety net to be able to successfully weather economic downturns. I think we were able to find that balance with the budget approved this session.

The $9.8 billion budget represents a slight increase in the annual average spending growth from 3% to 3.2%.  Much of this growth can be attributed to badly-needed pay increases for state employees that serve in 24-hour facilities such as the penitentiary, and for private providers that serve the state’s most vulnerable Nebraskans including those with developmental disabilities and those in foster care and nursing homes. Years of stagnant reimbursement rates have led to a crisis-level shortage of these critical-care providers resulting in dangerous staffing shortages in our corrections system and a lack of necessary services for those in need.  While meeting the needs of the state, the budget also left ample money in the state’s cash reserve fund, which is expected to reach a record-high of $1.3 billion next year. The budget also allowed for the passage of the biggest tax-relief bill in the state’s history.

The Legislature passed LB 873 on April 7th and Governor Ricketts signed it into law on April 13th.  The $900 million tax-cut package includes the following provisions:

• Speeds up the phaseout of income taxes on Social Security benefits. Social Security benefits will be 100% exempt from state income taxes beginning in year 2025;
• Phases in a reduction of the state’s top individual income tax rate from the current 6.84% to 5.84% by 2027;
• Phases in a reduction of the corporate income tax rate from the current 7.5% to 5.84% by 2027;
• Establishes a minimum amount dedicated to the refundable income tax credit for property taxes paid to local schools. This year, the state will provide $548 million worth of credits and this amount will continue to grow;
• Establishes a refundable income tax credit for property taxes paid to community colleges. This year the state will provide $50 million worth of credits under this program.  This amount will continue to grow as well.

These tax-relief provisions will make Nebraska a more tax-friendly state, particularly for seniors, and will benefit existing Nebraska businesses and help attract new businesses to the state.  Combined with the state’s existing Homestead Exemption program and the state’s $313 property tax credit program, the new refundable income tax credit programs for property taxes paid to schools and community colleges, will amount to over $1 billion dollars in state property tax relief. You can find out more about the new income tax credit programs on the Department of Revenue’s webpage: https://revenue.nebraska.gov/.

In addition to balancing the state’s budget while making sure Nebraskans get some of their hard-earned money back, the Legislature also needed to figure out how to allocate $1.4 billion in federal funds granted through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). There was less discretion with respect to the ARPA funds as this money has to be spent by 2026 on COVID-related items or on sectors negatively impacted by the pandemic.  Because these are one-time funds, starting new programs that need continuous funding was not an option and federal law specifically prohibited leveraging the funds for tax cuts.  Any inappropriate use of these funds is subject to recoupment by the federal government.  The ARPA package approved by the Legislature included funding for job training; affordable urban and rural housing; improvements to drinking and wastewater infrastructure; one-time premium pay for health and welfare providers; grants to nonprofit, shovel-ready projects, and incentives for rural health care providers and nursing students.

Of those ARPA funds, I was able to secure a total of $40 million for expanding mental health services through expanded education and facility capacity. Our state is facing a mental-health care crisis with a shortage of service providers and an increase in needed services, particularly among our younger Nebraskans. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this problem.

As Chairman of the Health and Human Services committee, some of my other personal accomplishments for this session include: overseeing the passage of legislation that creates a strategic work group to provide direction for a statewide model for child welfare in Nebraska; guiding the passage of a bill that would provide support for family caregivers of children with developmental disabilities and require the state to hire a consultant to evaluate our developmental disabilities system; passing legislation that would modernize Nebraska’s procurement system to an electronic platform and require the state to prepare for revamping the state’s procurement system to mitigate costly contract failures, such as the recent child welfare contract with St. Francis Ministries; and successfully negotiated an agreement between the administration and other senators to ensure passage of a bill that would require the availability of capacity for county jail inmates awaiting competency hearings and would require the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to provide Medicaid enrollment assistance to inmates at the state correctional facilities and at county facilities in Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy prior to leaving incarceration.

Though 2022 was a “short” session, it definitely wasn’t short on activity and a lot of hard decision making.  Despite having unexpected amounts of available funds, the Legislature held the line on wasteful spending while expanding the availability of essential services and provided record tax relief while ensuring protection of Nebraska’s fiscal health during the next economic downturn.  However there is always room for improvement.  Over the legislative interim I will continue to examine how to consistently move our state forward and I always welcome your input. Together we can assure Nebraskans have the opportunity to live the good life for years to come.  Please feel free to reach out to me through my office, (402) 471-2730 or by email: jarch@leg.ne.gov.

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 30, 2022

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kate Heltzel
Nebraska Legislature
Unicameral Information Office
(402) 471-2788
uio@leg.ne.gov



Sen. John Arch Invites Students to Youth Legislature

High school students are invited to take on the role of state senators at the Unicameral Youth Legislature June 12-15. At the State Capitol, student senators will sponsor bills, conduct committee hearings, debate legislation and discover the unique process of the nation’s only unicameral.

The Unicameral Youth Legislature gives behind-the-scenes access to students who have an interest in public office, government, politics, law, public policy, debate or public speaking. Students will learn about the inner workings of the Legislature directly from senators and staff.

“The Unicameral Youth Legislature gives participants first-hand experience in Nebraska’s distinctive legislative process,” said Senator John Arch. “Students interested in future public service will gain a valuable lesson about our democratic system of government and will learn about the challenges and rewards of making public policy.”

The Office of the Clerk of the Nebraska Legislature coordinates the Unicameral Youth Legislature. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Extension 4-H Youth Development Office coordinates housing and recreational activities as part of the Big Red Summer Camps program.

To learn more about the program, go to www.NebraskaLegislature.gov/uyl or call (402) 471-2788.
The deadline for registration is May 20.

https://nebraskalegislature.gov/education/unicamyouth.php

Greetings,

Most of us know that in the case of an emergency, we can call 911. But did you know there is a number you can call if you are feeling lost, overwhelmed or just need to find available resources? There is. It’s 211.

NE211 Contact Center is a statewide helpline, offering confidential assistance to get Nebraskans in touch with appropriate resources to provide the support needed. And it’s free. The NE211 helpline is manned twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by professionally trained, caring individuals who can evaluate your situation and recommend the services available to you. NE211 is a one-stop referral service that can provide individuals with information on thousands of resources, including health and human services, legal services, community services, disaster services, aging services and government programs. It is accessible for disabled individuals and can assist individuals in over 150 languages.

In 2018, a total of 69,066 Nebraskans reached out to the NE211 Contact Center for assistance. That number has grown significantly with over 240,000 people seeking help through the center in 2021. The origin of the calls span across the entire state – more than 350 calls came from legislative district 14 alone. Over half of the calls statewide were individuals seeking help with housing needs, followed by utility assistance, employment, health care and food. With the dramatic increase in the volume of calls to the center, operating costs have also increased. The NE211 Contact Center is a public-private partnership operated by the United Way of the Midlands, funded by state funds and private donations.

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance for daily living and don’t know where to turn, call 211. You can find out more about the NE211 Contact Center on its website: https://ne211.org/.

Greetings,

The holiday season is upon us which means the next legislative session of the Nebraska Unicameral is just around the corner. Nebraska’s Constitution requires the Legislature to convene in session each year on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January, making the 2022 session get off to an early start on January 5, 2022. The Legislature operates on a biennial schedule, with the first session of the biennium in odd-numbered years lasting a maximum of ninety days and the second session occurring in even-numbered years and lasting a maximum of sixty days. This means 30 fewer days for the 107th Legislature to hold public hearings, conduct debate and vote on the many proposals that will come before the body.

I anticipate many of the issues that will be considered during the 2022 session will be those issues that are routinely part of the legislative forum – tax reform, property tax reduction, state aid to schools, prison overcrowding, aid to individuals, behavioral-health services, election integrity, affordable housing and economic development. However, as evidence of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on our society and our “normal” daily lives, I predict the next legislative session could very well include impassioned discussions involving vaccination and mask mandates, the powers of local health departments and business rights versus individual rights.

Also related to the pandemic, the Legislature will be presented with an extremely unusual challenge in the coming session – how to spend over a billion dollars in federal funds. In March, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the intent of helping states, counties, cities, tribal governments, businesses, and individuals overcome the economic and personal impacts of the pandemic. In total, Nebraska is slated to receive roughly $6 billion. Of this, ARPA dictates direct allocation of $3.3 billion to specific state/federal programs, $773 million to education, $375.3 million to counties (Sarpy County will receive over $36 million) and $287.2 million to cities (Papillion and La Vista will each receive over $3 million). Additionally, under ARPA, the Capital Projects Fund was created of which Nebraska will receive $128.7 million. These funds can be used for capital projects that directly enable work, education, and health monitoring.

That leaves $1.04 billion to be spent at the discretion of the Governor and the Legislature. As you can imagine, many special interest groups have already shared numerous ideas on how this money could be utilized. However, these funds may only be used to cover costs associated with the public health emergency, including support for public health, and addressing negative economic impacts to workers, households, small businesses, and industries. The funds may also be used to invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, replace lost public sector revenues related to the pandemic, and to provide premium pay for essential workers. The funds may not be used to provide tax cuts or to increase any pension fund. Funds that are inappropriately expended are subject to recoupment as are funds that aren’t obligated by December 31, 2024 and expended by December 31, 2026. The Legislature will also have to resist the temptation to use this money to create new government programs no matter how worthy the cause. These are one-time funds and any program that requires on-going financial support will fall on the shoulders of taxpayers.

This will be my fourth legislative session and I have found serving the state and the constituents of Legislative District 14 in the capacity of a state senator to be more challenging than I ever imagined and equally more rewarding than I initially anticipated. I thank all of you who have contacted me to share your thoughts on the number of different issues that come before the Legislature. Your voice helps guide me in making difficult decisions and ensures I represent the district adequately while adopting policies to make our great state even greater. 

I wish you and yours a promising and prosperous 2022 and look forward to hearing from you next year!

On August 27, 2021, Governor Pete Ricketts issued a proclamation calling the Legislature into a special session on September 13, 2021 as permitted under Article IV, Section 8 of the Nebraska Constitution. The purpose of the special session was to redraw district boundaries for the Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission, the Nebraska University Board of Regents, the State Board of Education, Representatives of Congress of the United States and members of the Legislature. On September 30, 2021 the Legislative adjourned, having completed its task after a lot of map drawing, a lot of impassioned debate and a lot of compromise.

The various district boundaries are redrawn every ten years based on U.S. Census figures. Not only does the census data determine where billions of federal dollars go to fund vital community programs, this data is also important to ensure equal representation by governmental entities based on the one person, one vote principle. The Legislature usually tackles the task of redistricting during the course of a regular session, but as evidence of the continuing impact of the pandemic, the collection of the 2020 U.S. Census numbers were stalled by several months and the census numbers were not released until early August, months after the Legislature had adjourned for the year.

New governmental districts were drawn in adherence to criteria adopted by a special legislative redistricting committee. That criteria included: following county lines where practical; establishing districts that are compact and contiguous and easily identifiable; preserving communities of interest and retaining the core of prior districts. These strict guidelines are important to ensure our government boundaries can withstand any court challenge alleging gerrymandering, which is the manipulation of boundaries to favor one party or group over another.

On the federal level, apportionment is the process of determining how many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives each state is allotted. This is of course important for representation when Congress considers federal policy, but apportionment plays a huge role in presidential elections as well because electoral votes are based on the number of congressional seats in each state. According to the 2020 Census, Nebraska’s population increased by 135,163 people, which is not enough of a change to alter the number of seats the state is allowed in the U.S. of House of Representatives. Nebraska is retaining its three seats, but the boundaries of the congressional districts changed significantly through the redistricting process based on population shifts within the state.

The courts have held that congressional districts must have a 0% deviation from the ideal population. This means Nebraska’s new congressional districts must each have a population of 653,835 residents. With respect to the congressional districts, my main objective was to keep the five cities of Sarpy County in one congressional district as I believe the cities represent one community of interest. Unfortunately, due to significant growth in the Omaha-metro area, either Douglas or Sarpy county needed to be split between Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 2. Since Douglas County has historically been the core of Congressional District 2, splitting the county between north and south, as was initially considered, resulted in an intensive filibuster that deadlocked any progress. However, an alternative proposal that was offered would have split Sarpy County down the middle of Papillion’s main street and that also lacked support. After days of negotiations, a final map was agreed upon that resulted in all of La Vista and a majority of Papillion joining Bellevue in Congressional District 1 to recognize the community of interest represented by these Sarpy County cities. You can view a copy of those maps at the end of this post.

Population shifts within our state over the past ten years have also resulted in rural Nebraska losing a great deal of its residents, which impacted the boundaries of all 49 legislative districts. Again, in following the one person, one vote rule each legislative district should ideally have a population of 40,031. Given geographic limitations, reaching this exact number in establishing districts is not always possible, and unlike congressional districts, a greater deviation from the ideal is permissible. Nebraska set a standard of a 5% plus or minus deviation from the target number.

While rural Nebraska’s population shrank considerably, Sarpy County grew considerably. Between 2010 and 2020, over 33,000 people moved into Sarpy County, making it the fastest growing region in the state. This population shift resulted in Sarpy County gaining another seat in the Legislature and rural Nebraska losing a district in central Nebraska, currently represented by Senator Matt Williams of Gothenburg. The new district, 36, covers west and south Sarpy County and will be represented by Senator Williams until a new representative is elected in the 2022 General Election. Legislative District 14 grew by 4,509 residents, a 5.5% deviation from the ideal and it had to shrink in population size. District 14 lost an area of its southeastern boundary east of 72nd Street and south of Cornhusker Road, but picked up a small area northeast along the Big Papillion Creek and an area south of Highway 370 including Midlands Hospital and nearby neighborhoods. This means some of you may end up in another district with new representation. A map of the new Legislative District 14 is also attached.  If you are interested in all of the new governmental districts, maps can be found on the Legislature’s webpage:  http://news.legislature.ne.gov/red/.

In my three years of serving in the Legislature, the redistricting process was probably one of the more difficult undertakings I have experienced. However, it is also one of the most important as it is the very basis of our system of government to ensure every citizen has equal representation and a voice. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your voice in the Nebraska Legislature.

MAPS:

Final Congressional Map

Final Congressional Map – District 1

Final Congressional Map – District 2

Final Congressional Map – District 3

Congressional Map – Base Plan

Congressional Map – Base Plan – District 1

Congressional Map – Base Plan – District 2

Congressional Map – Base Plan – District 3

Congressional Map – Alternative Plan

Congressional Map – Alternative Plan – District 1

Congressional Map – Alternative Plan – District 2

Congressional Map – Alternative Plan – District 2 close up

Congressional Map – Alternative Plan – District 3

Final Legislative Map – Metro

Final Legislative Map – District 14