Senator Tom Brewer
43rd District
4-03-2020

The massive and exponentially increasing economic stress placed on the back of citizens in our country by the coronavirus pandemic has shone a bright light into many dark corners in our economy. In talking with ranchers around the district, it’s clear the market response to coronavirus has reignited concern and frustration with the beef cattle market.

In recent weeks, several ranchers have told me they don’t need or want a coronavirus bailout from the government, they just need a fair and competitive cash market to sell their cattle. Since taking office four years ago, the average income of our nation’s production ranchers has dropped 20%. Today, the small percentage of cattle sold in the cash market isn’t large enough to allow for robust price discovery on the production side of the cattle industry. This is causing some of the lowest cattle prices we’ve seen in a very long time.

There is a lot of stuff packed into the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill the federal government just passed. I want to be sure some of the programs and funds approved in that bill make it to the folks who need it most – specifically folks in Western Nebraska. People have shared some great ideas on specific programs that could be beneficial for Nebraska’s ranchers, I’m working with the Governor’s office to see if we can get some of those ideas across the finish line.

A few examples of these ideas include:

Granting flexibility for lenders to grant emergency extensions of loan repayment deadlines.
Temporarily suspending the federal capital gains tax on the sale of land, cattle, and equipment.
Reduce job-killing red tape that prevents small meat processors (like Sandhills Beef in Mullen) from opening their doors.
Increase robust price discovery to improve competition for live cattle markets.
Ask the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately investigate beef packing industry margins.

I’m also very worried about the upcoming property tax deadline. The first of two property tax payments are delinquent after May 1st. Nebraskan’s paid about $4.2 billion in property taxes last year. While this money supports thousands of local units of government, like schools and county governments. I’ve said for years we need to worry about the “tax-payers” just as much as the “tax- spenders.” With so many people unemployed and terrible volatility in cattle prices, I don’t know how a lot of our ranchers can afford to keep paying some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

Just so folks realize this, the primary election will happen as scheduled on the 12th of May. If you were planning on voting by mail, the Secretary of State’s website has a lot of useful information. There are some important dates folks should be aware of. April 6th early voting ballots began being mailed out. May 1st is the last day to request a mail-in ballot to be mailed to you. Make sure your voice is heard.

Please contact my office with any comments, questions, or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, mail a letter to Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1101, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, or call us at (402) 471-2628.