Happy New Year from Lincoln, NE. As I begin my final session as your representative, I am looking forward to the upcoming legislative session. I am humbled and grateful to have the opportunity to represent you for the past 7 years at the Nebraska Legislature.  It has been an amazing privilege for me to represent District 17 in Northeast Nebraska. I so appreciate those of you who have supported me and made this an awesome experience and having the opportunity to make Nebraska a better place to call home.

As I reflect on being in public service for the past 20 years–8 years on City Council, 4 years on County Board, and 8 years as a State Senator– I look fondly over serving the public who voted me into these various offices. Whether I represent the public or I am home on the farm, I will always care about life from conception to natural death, have a passion for children and families, and respect for businesses in rural and urban communities. When I came to the State Legislature 7 years ago, I came prepared to work on property taxes and less regulations. Little did I know I would become the pro-life Senator and work on pro-life legislation throughout my 8 years as a State Senator. 

Over the past three months, I have been a member of Governor Pillen’s Property Tax Working Group. This group has met regularly to discuss different ideas on how to address the high property taxes in Nebraska. We looked at a lot of options, including eliminating some current sales tax exemptions. Governor Pillen has proposed to raise the state sales tax rate by 2 cents, from 5.5 cents to 7.5 cents. Revenue from the 36% hike in sales taxes would be used to help lower local property taxes. Under the proposal, groceries would continue to be tax-exempt in the state, but the cost of other goods, such as automobiles, clothes and supplies such as diapers, would see a jump. The 2-cent increase is just the starting point and it could be amended lower. (Hammel, P (3 January, 2024). “Gov. Pillen loads up pitch to raise state sales tax by 2 cents, to shift taxes away from property”. Nebraska Examiner. https://shorturl.at/ejmnI.) Governor Pillen’s property tax reform proposal is not necessarily the finished product. Changes will be coming. We will meet again on January 11th. Property Tax relief is coming, but I am not sure what formula will get us there. Stay tuned as there is more to come before property tax reform is complete.

The first 10 days of the Legislative Session are spent introducing new potential legislation. In the first three days, 216 new bills were introduced ranging from bills regarding housing, child care, farming, K9 care, prescriptions, poverty, petitions, and postpartum coverage. More bills will be introduced until Day 10 on Wednesday, January 17th. We will begin rules debate on Wednesday, January 10th. I will be sharing more of our activities in coming weeks.

As always, I invite you to let me know your thoughts, ideas, concerns, or suggestions by calling my office at (402) 471-2716 or emailing me at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov.