The late evening debates in the Unicameral have been making news, but what you do not see is all the work going on behind the scenes. A tremendous amount of technical work goes into the session by our legislative divisions such as the Clerk’s office, transcribers, bill drafters, IT, research and so on. But it also takes effort on the part of each senator to get information out to fellow senators, bring in supporting testimony, and find areas of agreement to get a bill moved forward.

My priority bill, LB 562, is an excellent example of this focused approach. Even though LB 562 was advanced on first round debate, it still needed to be amended by the Agriculture Committee. With the ongoing filibusters, this was not accomplished until the second round. It required negotiations and hard work by a lot of people but we were able to move LB 562 to final reading.

In the committee amendment to LB 562, retailers will be incentivized to increase the blender rate of ethanol from the current average of 9.7% up to 14% in the next five years. If a new fueling station is built in that time frame, or an upgrade is made to 80% of the facility, then half the pumps would need to be E15 compatible. Incentives are in the form of tax credits to retailers, and are based on gallons sold and cents per gallon; they can choose to pass that along to the consumer or put it back into the business to cover costs. Either way, it flows back into the Nebraska economy, boosts ethanol consumption and production, and provides an enhanced market for corn; while producing a more environmentally friendly fuel and giving consumers more options.

Also included now in LB 562 is Sen.Tom Brandt’s beginning farmer program at a $2 million funding level. The amendment of LB 116 into the ethanol bill was adopted 38-0. It is intended to help those just starting out in agriculture with tax exemptions and credits, and also to owners who rent assets to beginning farmers and ranchers.

A second measure was also incorporated into LB 562. This one was brought by Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, to simplify the permitting process for food trucks, and was adopted by a vote of 40-0. There was no cost to this bill, and it will be beneficial as it makes requirements more consistent across the state for the growing, and very popular, food truck industry. The last hurdle for LB 562 is final reading and then on to the Governor for approval.

All the budget bills have now been advanced on to final reading, which should be completed next week. That is the only constitutional requirement for the Legislature and it will be good to have that accomplished as we have only a dozen working days left in this 90 day session.

Overall, the budget reflects a growth rate held to 2.3% and leaves about 16% (two months’ worth) of annual spending in the Cash Reserve, known as the Rainy Day Fund. An additional transfer was moved from the reserve into the General Fund at the request of the Governor. There won’t be much more taken out of that cash reserve, nor should there be. But this will allow for covering the cost of other legislation, since funding must come directly from the General Fund.

Five years ago when I started my first term as a state senator, the cash reserve was only at $300 million and we had to work to get it up to $345 million. By my third year we had about $990 million in reserve, and last year it grew to over $1.6 billion. Without any spending this year, it could have grown to $2.3 billion. Of course, this rapid growth was due to the influx into Nebraska of massive federal funding from pandemic relief programs and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). As a result, some large project expenditures have been approved, including the Perkins Canal, a new prison and the Education Future Fund. It also allowed for moving some of the ARPA funding to support projects such as water for the city of Lincoln and other vital programs.

As long as the state forecasting board’s predictions are sound, we will be fine. But there are many economic factors that go into this, and we will need to keep a sharp eye out for changes that could affect the cash reserve/rainy day fund in coming years.

Floor debate this week included LB 727, a package from the Revenue Committee covering a range of topics. Beginning with sales and use tax provisions, other subjects were: the Imagine Act, the Build Nebraska Act, the Nebraska Advantage Rural Development Act, transformational products, good life districts, taxes on vaping and nicotine, jobs, mainstreet revitalization and others. All together, twenty bills were combined into LB 727.

Additional legislation discussed this week included LB 243. It combines six bills and provides direct property tax credits, deals with property valuation appeals, funding for community colleges and child care tax credits. I consider the addition of the child care provisions to be good for this bill as we have heard so much in the past couple of years about both the cost and lack of childcare in many communities. As a package, LB 243 will provide tax relief for anyone who owns property and that part of the bill is very good.

As we proceed through the last couple of weeks of this current session, I welcome your correspondence. Email me at mdorn@leg.ne.gov or call 402-471-2620. You can follow the progress of all bills and watch the Unicameral live at www.nebraskalegislature.gov.

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