The legislative session will begin on Wednesday, Jan 6. On that day, newly elected members will be sworn in, and the speaker, chair and vice chair of the executive committee, and committee chairs will be elected. What happens after that may depend on the status of the pandemic. Under normal circumstances, we would then introduce bills for ten days, do some preliminary work including adoption of rules and committee assignments, with committee hearings beginning around the second week . But this year, it’s unclear what impact the pandemic will have on our path forward. Our actions will require a balancing of interests, including that of public safety, the need to set an example for fellow Nebraskans, and the need to do the work we were sent to Lincoln for. Regardless of how it occurs, as we move forward, many issues await us.

As a member of the revenue committee, I’m certain we will hear various proposals for tax reform and tax relief. I will be introducing some tax reform/tax relief measures myself, which I will discuss in future columns. One should remember that we passed LB 1107 last year, which created a new refundable income tax credit based on school property taxes paid, and established a statutory minimum of $275 million per year in the property tax credit fund. Revenue projections suggest the initial $125 million per year in income tax credits created by LB1107 could grow to over $200 million in the second year, and may reach over $300 million soon after that. The magnitude of that estimated escalation of the credits may make additional property tax relief more difficult, as some urban senators will think we have done enough on the issue for now. However, rest assured I will continue to work for additional property tax relief and reform.

Nebraska voters in November overwhelmingly adopted a proposal to establish casinos at racetracks, with 70% of the tax revenue ending up in the property tax credit fund. This 70% is conservatively projected to yield $50 million per year for the property tax credit fund. And as per the language of my LB 963 from last year, which was incorporated into LB 1107, these dollars are in addition to the statutory minimum of $275 million. I anticipate introducing legislation to clarify some aspects of the ballot proposal in an effort to ensure the will of the voters is respected and carried out. Assuming I am re-elected chairman of the General Affairs committee, it will be heard before my committee, where we can make adjustments and tweaks as needed.

We also will be discussing how to address prison overcrowding. The director has put forth a proposal to build a $230 million facility, while others suggest comprehensive sentencing and prison reform would alleviate the need for such an investment. As a fiscal conservative, I’m reluctant to spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money, plus ongoing operational costs, if we can avoid it and still protect public safety. We will see how those discussions go. 

An underlying theme of the session will be trying to help our residents and businesses rebound from the impact of the pandemic. I will be introducing legislation geared toward that goal in the area of liability protections for our businesses, schools, and health care providers, and tax relief for everyday Nebraskans. I also will be introducing various measures geared toward growing our state. I will discuss many of these bills in future columns.

This Monday was Veterans Day. Whether you are close to a veteran or not, I would encourage you to take a few minutes to reflect on why this holiday exists.
The date of November 11th harkens back to the last day of the First World War, when the guns which had been firing for over four years came to a stop on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. At 11:00 on 11/11/1918, the Armistice between the Entente Powers, also called the Allied Powers, and Germany took effect (earlier armistices had already come into effect with Germany’s allies in the war). Between 15 and 19 million people lay dead, including 110,000 Americans. Tens of millions more had been wounded.

This was called “The War to End All Wars,” and all of the nations whose citizens fought and died in the conflict commemorated the anniversary of that day in 1919. And again in 1920. Over time, almost all of the belligerent nations officially marked the date with solemn tributes to the dead and honor to those who went to war – whether they came home or not. This holiday was called, variously, “Armistice Day,” “Remembrance Day,” and sometimes “Veterans Day.” In the United States, it was marked as “Armistice Day” from 1919 onwards. It was formalized as a federal holiday by act of congress in 1938, “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.” As early as 1945, a World War II veteran named Raymond Weeks began advocating for a day to honor all veterans of all of America’s wars. This celebration began in some places as soon as 1947, but congress officially renamed the day “Veterans Day” in 1954, and designated the day to honor all veterans.

Since 1914, over 30 million American men and women have served our nation during wartime, and millions more served during peacetime (although their service is no less honorable, the public records tracking these veterans are not as complete). During that same period, over 1.1 million Americans were wounded while fighting or supporting our nation’s wars. Just over 7 percent of the US population are veterans (about 22 million people), and here in Nebraska, around 9 percent of our friends and neighbors have served (about 130,000 people, according to the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs). That’s a lot of people to be thankful for! And we also have to be thankful that we have such a high percentage of our population who have served. Veterans are resilient and hard-working, more likely to start successful small businesses, and bring home higher median earnings. But it’s not all good news. Veterans are more likely to have been divorced, more likely to be at risk of suicide, and more likely to struggle health concerns. Our veteran neighbors are great men and women, but they must never stop receiving our support. In addition to thanking the veterans you know on Veterans Day, I would encourage you to show your support throughout the rest of the year, by volunteering with or donating to a charity which serves our veteran community in some way. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and may God continue to Bless our veterans and our great Nation.

-Tom Briese

As recovery efforts continue to pick up after the storms across state, my office has been in close contact with state and local officials to make sure that the people of District 41 are not forgotten about. As of Monday, more counties have been added to the higher level of available federal aid under the Emergency Declaration, and additional counties are still under consideration. As I’ve written before, the most important thing is that all of your damages are documented and reported to your county Emergency Manager. I’m asking every local official I speak with to tell me or my office if they aren’t getting the support they need from the state, and I’m glad to hear that most have positive things to report.

I also want to take time to update you on the property tax relief efforts of the Revenue Committee, of which I am a member. As many of you know, there were multiple bills directed at property tax relief this year, including some of my own. The Revenue committee has been working to put together a tax reform package, reflecting the contents of several of those bills. It is the intent of the committee to have a bill on the floor of the legislature by mid-April. We are currently working out the details of this “package,” which I will describe in more detail below.

The Revenue Committee reflects a cross-section of the body, with perhaps a slightly more conservative bent. We are made up of four urban and four rural senators. Because of the need to overcome an almost certain filibuster effort on the floor, it will be necessary to be able to ultimately secure 33 votes of the 49 members of the whole Legislature. With this in mind, I believe it would be very important to send a package to the floor with an 8-0 vote of the committee. Because of the need to get 33 votes, and to get as close to full support as possible in the committee, I’ve always felt that out of political necessity, the package should include several components. Something for everyone, so to speak. And that is what we most likely will present: a package that contains several components that will help to get buy-in from rural and urban interests, the business community, and the ideological right and left.

With several details still to be ironed out, the tax reform package will be anchored by a mechanism to deliver meaningful and substantial property tax relief for all Nebraskans. To accomplish that relief, the package will include components to generate new revenue, direct that revenue to school funding, and ensure that those dollars yield significant property tax relief. The revenue components will be centered around sales tax revenue, specifically a rate increase and closing some loopholes and exemptions, partly using components of my LB 314 and LB 507. The school funding components will most likely be a hybrid of bills by Senator Friesen and Senator Groene. It is likely that additional revenue components will include a small step up in the cigarette tax, utilization of internet sales tax revenue, removal of some income tax loopholes, and elimination of the personal property tax exemption, among other items.

As I write this, it is possible that the tax reform package will include some measure of income tax relief, a business tax incentive component, and a mechanism to compensate low income folks for their added sales tax outlays. But again, some of these details are still being ironed out, and are subject to change. But whatever emerges from the Revenue Committee, I’m confident it will be a tax reform package that can deliver immediate and substantial property tax relief for hardworking Nebraskans, and grow that relief as we go forward.

Since my last column our state, and the 41st district in particular, has suffered through flooding of historical proportions. Nebraska has more miles of rivers than any other state in the US, and for the first time ever, every single river in the eastern part of the state has crested at a new record high.

There’s been an enormous amount of damage to private business and homes, causing financial strain on our residents. There’s also been a tremendous loss of infrastructure, including damage to highways, roads, bridges, and railroad lines. In addition to the personal loss and hardship, all of the above has a negative impact on economic growth in our state, and rural Nebraska in particular.

Over the weekend, I had a chance to inspect some of the damage in our district, including to one of our local communities, where a majority of businesses and many homes took on serious damage. An event like this can have a devastating impact on any community, but especially our small rural communities.

My fellow state senators and I were briefed on Monday by the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Major General Bohac, who heads the agency as well as the Nebraska National Guard. At the briefing, we learned that calf losses alone from the flooding and the blizzard were estimated at 1 million heads. At the very conservative estimate of $200/head, that’s $200 million dollars in loss to the state economy – that’s before all the waters recede and we learn how these disasters are going to impact crop producers as well as our small town businesses.

But throughout all the bad news, I’ve been impressed by the sense of community I’ve witnessed as Nebraskans come together to help their neighbors in overcoming events such as this. Rural Nebraskans are resilient and self-sufficient. But there’s only so much they can do. That is why it is imperative that the federal government implement a disaster declaration. That can free up federal resources to help our state, our communities and our residents to overcome this disaster. Thankfully, the Governor and NEMA have requested an expedited Major Disaster Declaration from the President, through FEMA. In doing this, Nebraska may be able to see help much sooner than the six to eight weeks that it often takes to receive federal help after a disaster occurs. I appreciate the efforts of Governor Ricketts and our congressional delegation in their efforts to see that a federal disaster declaration be announced as soon as possible.

For those of you wondering what you can do in times like this, the best places to go will be right in your own community. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army, along with many churches and community groups, have been coordinating shelters and supplies for those who need them, and County Emergency Managers have been working with NEMA. As always, call 911 if you or someone you know is in an emergency situation.

Lastly, on the topic of legislation, there has been some movement on several of the bills I introduced or co-sponsored this year. I will give you more information on those issues in my next column.

Last week was the start of the second session of the 105th legislature, and my second session as your State Senator. The first ten working days of session are the only time when bills can be introduced, and last week was almost exclusively the introduction of bills. Between day one, Wednesday, and day three, Friday, nearly two hundred bills were introduced. Several bills have already gotten attention, and no doubt you’ve seen or heard about some of them in this paper, on your local news channel, or on social media. The next step for most of the bills will be referencing to a committee by a group of senators elected from within the body. This group sends bills to the committees tasked with dealing with the areas of law those bills concern: so the roads bills are sent to my colleagues and me on the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, and the tax bills are sent to our colleagues on the Revenue Committee. I am serving again this year on the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee, and on the Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee, as well as the Legislative Performance Audit Committee, a special committee. In fact, all of the senators are serving on the same committees as last year, with the exception of Senator Theresa Thibodeau, a new appointee by the Governor to replace former Senator Joni Craighead.

I am looking forward to this session, which will be composed of 60 working days lasting from January 3rd to April 18th of this year. The legislative session this year will be dominated at some point by discussion of finances: the state government is staring down the barrel of a $200 million shortfall, and calls for tax relief from citizens are at an all-time high. I will be introducing a major proposal to provide the property tax relief that the people of District 41 (and hundreds of thousands of others across the state) need for our economy to thrive. It will also include a comprehensive look at how we can take the burden of education funding off of property taxes while still giving our children the kind of quality education they will need to make Nebraska a leader for the whole of the 21st century.

I also have a bill which will be a low-cost way for the state to investigate whether our Beginning Farmer Tax Credit needs to be adjusted to encourage young people to come into the business of agriculture. I believe that programs like this are needed now more than ever. The average age of a farmer in America is now close to 60 years old, and it’s been rising every year. Our older farmers deserve to have the freedom to retire when they choose to, not before or after they are ready. But with population shifts to the cities in rural states like Nebraska, and land and equipment prices representing significant barriers to entry, young people just getting started in life are either too far from farms and ranches to consider a move, or don’t have necessary financial capital to start farming.

If you need to get in touch, the best way is to call my office and speak with my staff (or leave a message if you call over the lunch hour) at (402) 471-2631. My legislative website is news.legislature.ne.gov/dist41/ and my facebook page is at facebook.com/SenatorTomBriese

Dear Neighbor,

The 2018 legislative session is only a few weeks away. It will begin on January 3rd, and will run until mid-April. I would like to take this time to give you some of my thoughts on the upcoming session, and to give you the opportunity to send me some of your thoughts.

During the 2017 session, much less was done in the legislature than many Nebraskans -myself included- had hoped. Several weeks at the beginning were slowed down by a contentious debate over the rules, and a number of controversial bills held up progress as they were each subjected to a filibuster. A budget shortfall of nearly a billion dollars meant that many state programs saw smaller increases in funding than they had been expecting, and a small number experienced cuts. In 2018, I believe that we will all anticipate some deja vu, as projected revenues have not yet begun to move upward again. This will mean another session of limited funds for new programs, and more time spent revising the budget.

I also know that property taxes will be a major issue once more. I will introduce bills addressing the burden of property taxes that our farmers and ranchers have struggled under for years, and which is now also shared by many of our friends in town. I am certain that other senators will also bring bills to tackle the issues of property taxes. Additionally, those who pressed hard last year for state income tax breaks will certainly keep up their efforts. I am hopeful, however, that a reasonable compromise can be reached, by which Nebraskans of all stripes can see the tax relief which will be the most beneficial to their communities, businesses, and families.

I’d also like to hear about what matters to you. As a favor to me, I ask that you take a short 5-minute survey on what life is like where you live, how you feel about some government services, and what issues matter the most to you. You can find the survey at surveymonkey.com/R/Briese2017 or by visiting my legislative website or facebook page and clicking on the link to the survey. I will take the feedback you give me extremely seriously, and I will use your thoughts to inform how I vote in the Legislature next year. I intend to make this a yearly way by which I can hear from all of you.

Finally, while I will continue to submit columns to this paper every two weeks during the legislative session, I’d like to invite you to sign up for my newsletter mailing list at eepurl.com/c-m87j. The link will also be available on my legislative website and Facebook page. I plan to use this to reach out to you in the future when the most important topics come up. I also encourage you to let your friends and neighbors know about both the survey and the newsletter.

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me your feedback, and for trusting me to represent the very finest people in our state.

Two weeks ago, the legislature passed a budget, and sent it to the governor. At that time, I had several concerns about the budget as passed, and spending in general.
General fund appropriations have increased at an average rate of 5.3% per year during the four fiscal years ending June 2013 to June 2017. During that same time however, our state’s population grew less than 1% per year, and the Consumer Price Index increased at an annual rate of 1.2%. So our state’s spending has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase and inflation combined.
And now, we’ve encountered a revenue shortfall. My concern is that with the state of our agricultural economy, this revenue shortfall may not improve anytime soon.
To pass a balanced budget, while not raising taxes, several steps were taken. The cash reserve, or rainy day fund, which only a few years ago was over $700 million, will be drawn down to roughly $370 million; over $200 million was raised by one time transfers from various cash funds; our general fund reserve, previously at 3%, was lowered to 2 ½%; and various spending reductions were instated. But even with these reductions, state spending will again increase in the upcoming fiscal year and beyond, albeit at a lower rate.
Faced with this, the governor vetoed roughly $56 million from the budget as passed, returning the general fund reserve to 3% and reversing a transfer from the Roads Operations Cash Fund.
Last week, several senators offered motions to override many of the governor’s vetoes. I voted against these override motions. I made my decision out of concern over spending in general, but also after examining the pattern of spending relative to each category vetoed by the governor.
Specifically, I compared the FY ’15-’16 appropriations to the FY ’17-’18 appropriations after the governor’s veto. In other words, I asked “what is the two year spending trajectory of these programs even as reduced by the governor’s veto. In the case of probation general fund appropriations, for instance, even after the veto it would be up 28.23% from where it was two years ago. Child Welfare would be increased by 16.5%, State Court Operations by 13.51%, Medicaid by 4.3%, Behavioral Health by 4.07%, Developmental Disability by 2.52%, and the University by 1.19%.
So over a two year period (and in most cases over a one year period from FY ’16-’17 to FY ’17-’18), the vetoes are not truly cuts to these programs. Instead, they simply reduce the increases and flatten the trajectory of general fund increases to a more sustainable level. As a result, I felt that sustaining the governor’s vetoes was consistent with the obligation of being a good steward of taxpayer’s dollars.

A number of large proposals have come before the Legislature in the last two weeks. Certainly the budget has been, and will continue to be, the major defining issue of the session. LB 457, my bill which would have brought voluntary termination agreements with school districts back inside of the levy lid and budget limit was amended into LB 512. That bill passed to final reading with an amendment which, while not bringing voluntary termination agreement spending entirely back inside the lid as we had originally envisioned, still substantially reduces the amount of monies for such agreements which can come from outside the lid, thanks to a compromise. While not ideal, this is a step forward and signals that the legislature is serious about working to reduce local spending as part of the larger effort to bring meaningful tax relief to all Nebraskans.

Another key proposal debated last week was the governor’s LB 461, which was billed as comprehensive tax relief. Because LB 461 prioritized income tax relief over property tax relief, I could not support it in its current form. As I told my colleagues, I believe that LB 461 would add to the imbalance in our tax structure, and would eventually increase our reliance on property taxes in Nebraska. We simply cannot ignore the crisis of property taxes which is happening all across our state. There are farmers who are on the verge of bankruptcy because of high property taxes; there are young people putting off the purchase of their first home because property taxes will push their monthly payment out of their budget; there are older Nebraskans on fixed incomes who can no longer afford to make the property tax payments on the homes they paid off decades ago. It is because of this that I will continue to advocate for tax relief, but only if it includes substantial property tax relief.

This week, we will continue to debate the budget. Currently, our budget increases overall spending by 1% from the current biennium. To do so, we are reducing the rainy day fund below $400 million, and doing a one-time sweep from various cash funds of state agencies and programs. I am concerned about the sustainability of such an approach, and I also am concerned that revenue projections going forward are too optimistic. As a result, I will support additional responsible spending reductions.

The budget has dominated the atmosphere in the Legislature the past two weeks, and as the budget discussions go on, I will continue to keep property tax relief as my number one priority. I maintain that to attain the substantial and significant property tax relief Nebraskans deserve, we must replace some property tax revenue with other sources, and we must also reduce spending. Last week in the Legislature, I had an opportunity to discuss both approaches.

Nebraska law limits the maximum property tax levy a school district can impose, and it limits the growth of school budgets, both with some exceptions. One such exception is for money used in voluntary separation agreements with certificated employees. These agreements are used by school districts to encourage employees to retire by offering them buyouts. My LB 457, merged into LB 512, was an attempt to put the funding of those deals back within the levy and budget growth limits, like almost all other school district spending.

LB 457 would still allow the use of these agreements, but we owe it to the taxpayer to require such agreements to be paid for within the tax levy and budget restrictions. To those schools impacted, I maintain that a district would have to either reprioritize its spending or take that increase in spending to an override vote of the people. The Legislature debated the issue twice in recent weeks, and debate was heated both times. I offered an amendment, which was adopted 33-0, to give districts three years to comply with the bill.

Last Tuesday, as the day turned into evening, Omaha Senator Burke Harr threatened a filibuster of the bill. Several senators were absent at that time, so we didn’t have enough votes (33) to withstand a filibuster, and had to agree to an amendment by Senator Harr which would still allow these agreements to be utilized outside of the tax levy lid and budget limit, but with some restrictions. In criticizing this compromise, I asked if it made sense to require money spent to improve education for our children to be within the levy limit, while allowing funding for retirement agreements to be unlimited.

The same day, we discussed LB 640, a bill to limit school funding derived from property taxes. Property Tax Credit Fund dollars were to fund this. I offered an amendment to expand the sales tax base, and eliminate a couple of income tax exclusions rarely used by a handful of Nebraskans, and use those funds to replenish the Property Tax Credit Fund. We began debate on my amendment, but didn’t get a chance to vote on it or the bill itself, when the time limit of three hours expired. LB 640 may or may not be debated again.