Now that the Legislature has adjourned for the year, I will be spending the next few weeks analyzing the bills that were passed this session and sharing with you the impact that the new laws will have on the residents of District 42.

As we discussed previously, this legislative session was far from normal. Once the filibusters began, it became clear that getting bills passed in a conventional way would not be easy. Typically, every Senator priority bill would at least get debated, as would the 25 Speaker priority bills and each standing committees’ two priority bills. This year, however, only 56 bills were passed on Final Reading and sent to the Governor’s desk for his signature. This doesn’t necessarily mean we were less productive, though.

Committee priority bills have traditionally been sent to the floor with a few other bills in the committee’s jurisdiction grouped together in the committee amendment (also known as a Christmas tree bill). Since so few bills were able to be debated this year, most committees were only able to get one of their two priority bills heard. In addition, we were kept from doing a consent calendar or hearing many of the individual Senator or Speaker priority bills. Accordingly, the committee priority bills that made it on the agenda included many more bills in their packages than normal. In many cases, additional amendments were offered to add even more bills to the introduced bill.

In the end, of the 821 bills that were introduced, 291 bills will become law via the 56 bills that passed Final Reading. This compares favorably to the last two 90-day sessions in 2021 and 2019, where the Legislature passed 281 and 322 bills, respectively.

I thought this week might be a great time to discuss property tax progress in this legislative session. Many of you received your new property “valuations” over the past couple of weeks and are now wondering how much your property taxes will rise as a result. First, let me be clear that the valuation of your property is just one part of the tax equation. The “mill levy” is the other half of the equation. You will not know the mill levy until taxing authorities complete their budgets this fall. Once budgets are completed, the county assessor will add up all the budget requests and then divide that total into the gross property values to determine the consolidated mill levy necessary to fund the budgets.

It is important to remember that the state does not have any authority to tax real estate. The state generates its income primarily from income taxes, sales taxes, and fees. The state can, however, impact your property tax level by providing state revenue to public schools, which are the largest property taxing entity.

Nebraska historically has ranked 49^th in the country for state aid to public schools. This aid is provided through the Tax Equity and Education Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA) formula. This formula essentially considers each school district’s needs and the value of its resources (property values) and grants state funds to schools accordingly. This is referred to as “equalization” aid. Unfortunately, only the larger school districts in the state receive equalization dollars, and nearly all the small school districts (all but one in District 42) do not receive equalization aid.

This year, the Legislature passed major education funding reforms in LB243. First, it placed $1 billion into the Education Future Fund to be used as reserve funds to ensure continued additional funding to public schools. It also expanded annual public school funding by over $300 million by increasing current state aid to equalized schools and providing $1,500 per student in aid to all unequalized schools. We also increased special education funding from 40% to 80% of special education costs.

In addition to increasing financial support, the Legislature took steps to limit annual school spending growth to 3%. Many felt the cap was necessary to ensure the new funding actually goes toward property tax reductions. If the state provides more revenue, it is expected that less revenue will come from property taxes.

Additionally, LB243 increases the minimum amount of rebates provided through the Property Tax Credit Act. This Act refunds a percentage of the property taxes paid to your local school district and your local community college. The minimum amount of funding available each year beginning in 2023 is $360 million. This amount will grow each year until it reaches $475 million in 2028. The Legislature also will be removing community colleges from the property tax rolls. Instead, the State will fund their operating needs, just as they do for the University and the State colleges today. Community college assessment will only remain to pay off existing bonds.

The work done by Legislature this year in property tax reform was monumental. There were also major strides in income tax reductions, which I will address that next week.

It has been an honor representing you this past year, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding any issues you may have. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729. My door is always open!