Legislative News

Legislative session will feature many new committee chairs and freshman lawmakers.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen discussed his serious injuries during that horse ride, his recovery at hospitals in Columbus and Omaha and getting back to work in a sit-down interview with the Nebraska Examiner on Friday. He laughed and teared up in a high-backed chair in the living room of the Governor’s Mansion, where he has stayed since being released from the Nebraska Medical Center a week earlier.

Walt Radcliffe, 77, died Dec. 26, 2024, while in hospice care for kidney failure and other health issues. A celebration of life will be held Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Hillcrest Country Club, 9401 O St., in Lincoln.

Thirty-nine states will begin 2025 with notable tax changes, including nine states cutting individual income taxes (two of them implementing flat taxes), three states cutting corporate income taxes, and two states adopting new first-year expensing provisions. Generally, state tax changes take effect either at the start of the calendar year (January 1) or the fiscal year (July 1 for most states), with rate changes for major taxes typically implemented effective January 1—either prospectively, as in these cases, or retroactively, as may happen under legislation enacted in the new year.

A loophole in a new law allowed some taxpayers to get money back while many lost the chance.

Incoming state senators recently convened at the Capitol for several days of seminars and hands-on practice that gave them a peek at what they can expect when they begin work on Jan. 8.

Governor Jim Pillen is previewing some of his priorities for the 2025 legislative session. These initiatives, and others, align with his administration’s ongoing commitment to kids, taxes, agriculture and values.

Gov. Jim Pillen is officially calling on Nebraska lawmakers to address “inconsistencies” in the state’s main school aid formula in the 2025 legislative session.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue, Property Assessment Division, has posted the 2024 Legislative Changes.

Read Chris Chappelear's recent op-ed in the Omaha World-Herald.

A KETV investigation reveals Gov. Jim Pillen and his businesses were eligible for more than $64,000 in tax credits that most Nebraskans won't be able to cash in on — all due to a bill passed during the special session.

Changes are provided for Income Tax, sales & Use Taxes, Tax Incentives, Miscellaneous, Lottery/Charitable Gaming, and LB 34 Special Session.

A change in how property owners receive credit for taxes paid to support the local school district may cause some Nebraskans to miss out on tax relief this year.

State Sen. Steve Erdman says the revisions are a ‘plain and simple retroactive property tax increase’; State Sen. Brad von Gillern says there will be ‘no net difference to the taxpayer.’

The Nebraska Department of Revenue (DOR) is providing information on property tax relief changes resulting from a new credit through the passage of LB 34 (2024).

Nebraskans who have claimed a state income tax credit for property taxes paid in support of their area community college should continue to do so in the coming year.

Over the span of the last four months, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen lobbied energetically for significant property tax relief, with a stated goal of attaining 40% total property tax relief by the end of his second year in office. But when the Legislature completed its special session on Aug. 20, the result was an expanded and revamped program providing only about 3% to 4% more property tax relief, with total relief roughly around 20%, according to Pillen.

Lawmakers embraced the ‘absolute minimum’ LB 34 and said farewell to the class of senators elected in 2016, who led the charge to continue working.

What was intended to be a simple, rare Saturday meeting of the Nebraska Legislature began with flared emotions but ended with key senators making nice to save the very legislation their fight had imperiled.

The Mercatus Center of George Mason University has released its 2024 edition of “Snapshots of State Regulations.” As with most rating systems, this allows states to compare themselves to other states and examine particular strengths and weaknesses in their systems. These strengths and weaknesses explain good and bad rankings and provide focus areas for continued work or improvement.

The Nebraska Legislature started last week with LB34, introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, as the new vehicle for Gov. Jim Pillen's property tax relief plan. The bill was advanced from the Revenue Committee on a 6-1 vote with a committee amendment that contained the major portions of LB1, including new taxes and the elimination of certain exemptions for more than 60 products and services. (The provisions to tax accounting services and tax preparation services were removed before the bill even made it out of committee.) Ultimately, the amendment did not have enough votes to advance and they substituted that amendment with AM84, which significantly pared down the bill and ultimately advanced.

Two budget-related legislative bills advanced Friday to help offset the cost of Nebraska’s latest core property tax relief plan.

The “absolute minimum” property tax relief plan in the Nebraska Legislature inched closer to passage with small changes Friday, as lawmakers swatted down a proposed “compromise” for counties and municipalities.

Governor Jim Pillen issued the following statement regarding efforts by some senators to water down the local government spending caps in the property tax relief package currently moving through the Legislatuure.

Gov. Pillen has a new property tax relief plan using LB 9, which was introduced by Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward. Although the proposal still includes the taxation of more than 70 goods and services, it does NOT include the taxation of accounting and legal services, advertising, and cloud or data services. Several property tax relief bills are expected to be combined into LB 9 this afternoon.

An Omaha lawmaker is taking an alternative route to provide Nebraskans property tax relief by seeking to decrease the state’s prison population and offer second chances.

City and business leaders in Nebraska say their most powerful tool to spur economic development could be in jeopardy, depending on the property tax relief plan state officials settle on in the special legislative session.

Sen. Linehan says funding for “the ‘needs’ side, though it might need some adjustments, is better than saying, ‘we’ll figure it out later.’”

Dozens of statewide business, municipal and county leaders lined up Tuesday to testify against Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s core property tax proposal. For more than 10 hours, the Legislature’s Revenue Committee listened to varying perspectives about Legislative Bill 1, which Pillen says would reduce the average Nebraskan’s property tax bill by up to 50%. State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the committee chair, introduced the bill on Pillen’s behalf and presided over the committee hearing.

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln filed a campaign finance complaint against Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday, claiming that the first-term governor has misused taxpayer funds to promote his political campaign and his plans to reduce property taxes and slash state spending.

In the midst of numerous proposals facing the Legislature to offer relief to property owners, a measure aimed at carving out help for a different demographic, renters, garnered backing Monday from a dozen supporters. Two of them testified during a public hearing before the Revenue Committee, and 10 others submitted written comments. No one spoke in opposition, but three issued objections in writing.

As introduced, Gov. Jim Pillen’s core property tax relief proposal could fall short by $139 million in annual estimated revenue needed.

Three legislative bills introduced Monday would extend significant property tax relief to Nebraska homeowners based on how long they have owned a home in the state. Legislative Bill 75, from State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, would exempt qualified Nebraska homeowners from paying any property taxes after 40 years of ownership in the state.

Some lawmakers sent a warning to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Friday by voting to send the core of his property tax relief proposal to a more unfavorable committee than anticipated.

An alternative tax relief measure to be considered by state lawmakers would exempt from property taxes the first $100,000 of a Nebraskan’s home value.

Spurred by legitimate discontent over rising property tax burdens, Gov. Jim Pillen (R) is searching for bold solutions. But the plan, which reportedly involves a two-tiered sales tax and the state’s assumption of most school funding responsibility, would have profound implications that even those most convinced of the urgency of property tax relief may find unworkable and unpalatable.

Eleven lawmakers will host two listening sessions on property taxes in the state’s two most populous cities after Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen opted out of doing so. Pillen, in his quest to reform property taxes, crisscrossed the state, visiting 26 cities in May and June for town halls to pitch his evolving reform plans. He asked Nebraskans to offer feedback and to pressure state senators to support his ideas, although senators later said they received little feedback.

Governor says the state needs immediate action for ‘a crisis that has been accelerating at warp speed’; opponent says a ‘third grader’ could see working Nebraskans will pay more.

Some Nebraska lawmakers working with Gov. Jim Pillen on property tax reforms this summer said Monday if lawmakers do move to take over most K-12 school funding, it would be a multiyear process.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is facing pushback for some of his property tax reform ideas from some of his closest agricultural allies in the Legislature. He may need their support to pass reforms during a special session expected this month.

The funding route for Gov. Jim Pillen’s property tax reforms ideas will likely continue to focus on sales and “sin” taxes, and he says that “income tax won’t be touched.”

Gov. Jim Pillen is asking the State of Nebraska to take on most or all public K-12 school spending, instead of funding schools through local property taxes. The shift would be a national standout.