Over the coming weeks, we will have many four day work weeks to follow along with three day weekends. Over the past 3 weeks we have heard over 300 bills. As we move forward in the legislative session, we will move into floor debate in the mornings for bills that have moved from their respective committees to General File and have committee hearings in the afternoon for bills still needing a public hearing.

In the Revenue Committee, I have heard the bills that Governor Pillen is proposing in a package. These bills will be passed out of committee and sent to the floor on General File. These bills will be a benefit for ALL Nebraskans as they keep us competitive with other states around us and help bring tax cuts to families and businesses through individual tax credits, corporate tax credits, social security tax cuts, and more. Here is a little bit about each bill in the Governor’s tax package.

• LB589–Adopt the School District Property Tax Limitation Act–This bill would cap school district revenue growth. District property tax request authority would then be determined by subtracting non-property tax revenue from the total revenue limitation. This cap would NOT apply to property tax revenues required to pay bonded indebtedness. Non-property tax revenue would NOT include special education funding.
• LB641–Change provisions relating to the taxation of Social Security benefits–This bill seeks to speed up the schedule for reduction of Federal Adjusted Gross Income equal to a percent of social security benefits received from 60% in 2023 to 70% and from 80% in 2024 to 100%.
• LB754–Reduce individual and corporate income tax rates–This bill will gradually lower the top tier tax rate for individuals to 3.99% by tax year beginning January 1, 2027 and each tax year thereafter. It will gradually lower the corporate income tax rate for all earnings in excess of $100,000 to 3.99% by tax year beginning January 1, 2027 and each tax year thereafter.
• LB783–Eliminate the levy authority of community college areas–This bill will eliminate the property tax levy authority of community college subdivisions. Community Colleges would receive their funds through the state.
• LB804–Change corporate income tax rates–This bill would cut the top corporate income tax rate to 5.84% by taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023.
• LB806–Change individual income tax rates–This will would cut the top individual income tax rate to 5.84% by taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023.

On February 2nd, I attended the NE Chamber banquet and sat with the group from Wayne. I enjoyed visiting with Luke Virgil, Wayne Area Economic Development; Wes Blecke, Wayne City Administrator; and Chele Meisenbach, Ameritas. I would like to congratulate those that received awards from the NE Chamber.

Tuesday, February 7th, I had the pleasure of greeting Lexi Bodlak, State FFA president and the other FFA officers while they were visiting the capitol. They sat in on the Agriculture Committee’s morning hearing where I introduced LB442–The Livestock Friendly County Funding where I asked for money to be transferred into the Livestock Growth Act Cash Fund administered by the Department of Agriculture. The grant program was set forth in §54-2803.

Finally, I plan to introduce a Legislative Resolution (LR) congratulating Jack Schlickbernd of Wayne, NE for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout through his community service project. Jack was inspired by his love of baseball and his desire to honor veterans and chose to install a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Seat of Honor and other major league stadium seats at Paul Eaton Field in Wakefield, NE. Congratulations, Jack.

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