This past week we wrapped up the 1st Regular Session of the 109th Legislature. We were able to adjourn the scheduled 90 day session on day 89. The Legislature fulfilled its Constitutional duty to pass a balanced budget while also transferring funds to the Cash Reserve fund, otherwise known as the “rainy day” fund. This was not an easy accomplishment. We began the year with a more than $400 million projected budget shortfall. By April, the shortfall had grown by another almost $200 million. Through the hard work of the Appropriations Committee and from the passage of a number of bills to reduce spending and waste we were able to balance the budget for the next two fiscal years. Not everyone was happy with some of the spending cuts. You’ve likely read articles sharing those frustrations. However, Nebraska’s constitutional mandate to provide for a balanced budget results in a more efficient and stable state government. To confirm this you need to look no further than the constant mess in Washington, D.C. and decades of unchecked deficit spending by the federal government.
I started the year with high hopes to provide additional property tax relief for Nebraskans. In prior years we were able to limit local spending as well as take the funding of our great community colleges off the backs of our property taxpayers. This resulted in the first reduction in total property taxes collected in Nebraska for the first time in 26 years. We were also successful in preserving the scheduled growth in property tax credits, which are on track to increase statewide from $750 million last year to $780 million this year and to a total of $808 million next year.
I had proposed a plan to lessen the impact of funding local public schools from property taxes with my bill LB303. LB303 would have dropped the maximum levy cap, or hard cap, for school districts while increasing the state’s portion toward funding our schools. The budget shortfall along with some of my colleagues’ reluctance to shift spending from other priorities prevented this from happening.
However, we did succeed in passing an amended form of LB303 that retained the creation of the School Finance Reform Commission. This commission is tasked with providing recommendations to the Legislature for how to better fund public education in a manner that reduces property taxes. The School Finance Reform Commission will keep the conversation going on school funding and its impact on property taxes. This is one of the several areas that we need to continue to work on in order to reduce property taxes in our state. I remain committed to doing so and I am already working on legislation for next year to provide additional property tax relief for Nebraskans.
As always, if I can be of assistance to you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact my office. My staff members – Matt and Katie – are available to assist you with your needs and they pass along messages, so if you’d like a call back, please let them know!
Email: jhughes@leg.ne.gov
Phone: 402-471-2756
Facebook: Senator Jana Hughes
