I had the privilege of being invited by Wallace substitute schoolteacher Becky Uehling to speak to her 7th-grade class on Zoom. I was so impressed by the respect the class showed and the quality of their questions. I really appreciate our local public schools’ effort to expose students to government officials and help them understand how our laws are made. The last time I spoke to a group of area students was four years ago when I was invited to visit the 4^th grade class in Thedford. They too were a great group of students who left me with an unforgettable impression of the quality of our area students.

This past week, I served on a legislative panel at the Thriving Children and Families Conference in Kearney, sponsored by First Five Nebraska. Our panel focused on the importance of childcare in growing our economy. Without available childcare providers, our workforce and job growth are reduced.

I ended the week by attending the Governor’s reception for the President of the Czech Republic and the announcement of two Executive Orders (EO) designed to help farmers and ranchers cope with the effects of high diesel fuel costs.

The first EO deals with the tax on off-road diesel fuel. To be clear, there is no tax today on fuel used for off-road use since the millions of gallons of off-road fuel do not impact our highway system. Diesel fuel used for over-the-road trucks is subject to both state and federal road tax. The state tax is collected at the point of sale and remitted to the Nebraska Department of Revenue to fund the Nebraska Department of Transportation for road construction and maintenance. The Federal tax is also collected at the point of sale and remitted to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, which remits it to the IRS. Diesel fuel used for over-the-road vehicles is clear in color, but a red dye is added to the fuel for off-road purposes to distinguish it from over-the-road fuel. Today, farmers and ranchers often keep two fuel storage tanks on their premises so they can keep off-road fuel for ag equipment separate from motor-vehicle fuel for over-the-road use.

The Governor’s EO suspends the state tax on over-the-road (clear) diesel fuel for 90 days, with the option to extend, if needed. Since this tax is collected at the point of sale, a trucker hauling an agricultural commodity who fills his semi at a fuel pump will pay the full tax, but can apply for a refund of the state tax (31.8 cents per gallon) if they keep their receipt.

However, it is the Governor’s intent to allow these individuals to also avoid paying the federal tax (24.4 cents per gallon) by using “red” off-road fuel in over-the-road trucks if they are exclusively hauling ag commodities that include grain, livestock, hay and distillers’ grains, sugar beets, and any other ag commodity. This would eliminate the need to file any refunds and would also capture the federal tax. The Department of Revenue has applied for the federal waiver to accomplish this. There have been many questions regarding this EO, and the Department of Revenue has linked additional information on its main page: https://revenue.nebraska.gov/. The State Patrol chief was also present at the press conference to confirm that their carrier enforcement officers will be flexible once the suspension period ends and over-the-road vehicles have residual color in their fuel.

The second EO modified the existing agricultural overweight limits for truck hauling grain for field to market, by allowing haulers of agricultural commodities to haul all loads up to 25% more than the current allowable weights. I would, however, caution those hauling grain to make sure their lights are working, their brakes are properly adjusted, and their tires meet specs. These orders only apply to trucks operating in Nebraska and do not allow for overweight interstate travel.

These two EOs will be a huge help to farmers and ranchers who are dealing with the challenging impact of high diesel fuel prices and the summer fires. I applaud Governor Pillen for taking this decisive action.

It is a privilege to represent you in the Nebraska Legislature, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding issues that are important to you. I can be reached at 402-471-2729 or by emailing me at mike.jacobson@leg.ne.gov.