All committee and individual priority bills were due last Friday and requests for Speaker priority bills were due last Thursday. The Speaker will announce his selections for Speaker priority bills on Monday. Going forward, the Speaker will begin scheduling priority bills to be heard on General File and will continue to schedule bills that have already moved to either Select File and Final Reading. At this point I have gotten 5 bills passed, one bill is on Final Reading, and three bills have been advanced from General File and are heading to Select File (including the “A” bill for LB527).

Two bills that I introduced are stuck in committee. One of those bills is LB37 The Railroad Safety Act. We knew that this bill was aggressive, but each train derailment and controllable accident makes our case stronger. Like the “two-person crew” bill last year, no one gave it a chance of passage, yet we got it out of committee and had over 25 votes for advancement. Unfortunately, we did not have the 33 votes for passage. This year, the railroad companies asked for an Attorney General opinion on the bill that suggested that several parts of the bill would have possible Constitutional issues. As a result, LB37 was not voted out of committee this session. We will be back next year with an amended bill.

Despite not being able to move LB37 this session, I think it’s still an important bill. Much of the railroads’ activities are regulated at the federal level. But just because some state action is preempted, it doesn’t mean there is no value in proposing a state solution. I am convinced that states taking action to pursue “two-person crew” was part of why the Federal Railroad Administration finally decided to act. I hope bills like LB37 will push the FRA to require more safety measures to be put in place.

There are several pending bills that will impact our area of the state. They include Daylight Saving Time legislation, one related to the brand area, and ongoing tax bills. One thing has become very clear to me over my time in the Legislature, the Senators representing the two largest cities in the state have no interest in paying for the cost of local government in rural Nebraska. This is one of the primary reasons I have opposed the EPIC tax; if all tax collections go to the Lincoln, we will never get back our share. That is crystal clear to me.

It is also clear to me that when people suggest that the tax cuts are unsustainable, I respond by saying it is the spending that is unsustainable. This year alone, we have heard bills that provide more and more free services or more state subsidies. Any money that the state leaves laying around will get spent if it is not in a segregated reserve account or already allocated.

Last week, we considered removing certain sales tax exemptions to raise additional revenue to balance the budget and provide property tax relief. Immediately following the hearing on removing some tax exemptions on sales taxes that will not impact “needs” of low-income residents and not raise taxes on business inputs, a bill was heard to provide a Homestead Exemption to first-time home buyers. One committee member suggested that the revenue produced from the additional sales tax revenue could pay for the new Homestead Exemption. I rest my case on the spending problem in Lincoln.

I am a firm believer that there must be some kind of tax shift if we are serious about property tax relief. Today, an annual tax shift occurs when expenses outpace revenue. That shift is in the form of additional property tax asks. We know that we will need nearly $300 million in state aid to political subdivisions to keep property taxes flat. We cannot stand by and let this continue. As a result, we must find a way to generate more revenue and cut spending at all levels of government. I like sales taxes because it is a voluntary tax if we do not include necessities and business inputs. Thousands of travelers drive through the state daily. If we can collect sales taxes from those travelers (like other states do) or generate funds from non-necessary goods and services, we can generate additional revenue without harming low-income families and negatively impacting businesses.

I look forward to continuing to hear from you about issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.