Hello Neighbor,

There are less than 15 days left in this session. We still have a lot of things to try to accomplish over that time, so it will be a busy few weeks.

We passed the budget through the first round of debate. While it is probably more spending than I would have liked, I think the Appropriations Committee did an admirable job in putting the budget together considering the limitations they had. I was glad we were able to amend the budget to add $51 million a year to the Property Tax Credit Fund, instead of the $26 million the Appropriations Committee had recommended. The $51 million a year is what the Governor recommended in his budget proposal, and I believe he is correct in directing that money towards property tax relief. I recognize the concern over our depleted cash reserve, but property tax is a bigger need, especially for farmers and ranchers.

While we were able to add a little bit of property tax relief through the budget, we were not as successful during the debate on LB 289, the property tax relief package from the Revenue Committee. The package would have increased sales taxes by ½ of a percent and eliminated a number of sales tax exemptions on things like candy, pop, and a number of services. The money raised from these sales taxes would go directly to property tax relief. Also, ag values for property tax purposes would drop from 75% of assessed value to 65% and residential and commercial property from 100% to 90%.

There were a number of supporters who spoke during the debate, myself included, and only a couple of opponents. Unfortunately, the bill went three hours without a vote. Under the Speaker’s rule, that means Senator Linehan has to show the Speaker she thinks she can get 33 votes to overcome a filibuster before the Speaker will bring it back up for debate again. I know Senator Linehan is working hard to find those votes, including working on more changes to the bill. I hope we can debate and pass something to give relief to those in the district before the end of the session.

Thank you to all of those who have emailed and called about LB 289. Your ideas and suggestions are very important to me. Each call and email was on my mind during the debate.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by phone at 402-471-2732, by email at dmurman@leg.ne.gov, or on my Facebook page.