Although stymied, Legislature is being productive
Although the Legislature is still not moving at full speed, we have made some progress over the past week. Certainly, much time has been wasted with the ongoing filibusters, but we are still moving important bills forward that will benefit residents of District 42.
This past week was dominated by debate on bills that will reduce income and property taxes. Additionally, we debated public school funding alternatives that are intended to both reduce property taxes and increase public school funding. As we have discussed on many occasions, property taxes are assessed at the local level and the bulk of your local property taxes go to your local school district. Nebraska’s current level of state aid to public education, in comparison to local tax funding, ranks at nearly the lowest in the nation. However, the current school spending on public education in Nebraska ranks in the top 25. The gap between state aid and school spending is made up by property taxes.
If I heard one message loud and clear during the campaign, it’s that property taxes are too high. I wholeheartedly agree! It is for that reason that I support LB583. LB583 will reduce property taxes by bringing more funding to public schools throughout the state and especially schools in rural areas, including the ten public schools in District 42. The bill also caps school districts’ revenue growth to 3% unless a higher increase is approved by 70% of the school board or 60% of the voters in a special election. By increasing aid and slowing spending, property taxpayers should see reduced levies.
The week ahead should see three late-night days compared to last week’s one. In addition to going late into the night, the Speaker has also signed off on allowing the committees to add more bills to each committee priority bill. Normally a committee amendment would include up to five bills, but because time is short, the Speaker has said that as long as there is unanimous consent of the committee and no large fiscal note, committees can create larger omnibus bills. We could see some with as many as 30 bills in one amendment. This will allow more bills to be passed in the limited time left in this session. There are also still ways to pull out problematic legislation on the floor, if necessary, so there is no concern with rubberstamping whatever the committee puts forward.
Although we don’t know the full agenda, the Speaker has announced that LB626 (the heartbeat bill) will be debated on Wednesday. We’re also likely to hear Senator Brewer’s LB77 (Constitutional Carry) on Final Reading. That means LB77 could be the first bill the Legislature sends to the Governor’s desk for signing in 2023.
One of the looming questions in the Unicameral is the fate of all the priority bills with fiscal notes that were heard in committees other than the Appropriations and Revenue Committees. These bills will not be included in budget bills. And, since we don’t know how much money the Appropriations Committee will leave for spending outside of the budget, it will likely be a mad scramble to get funding for non-budget projects. My State 4-H Camp bill, for example, has been added by committee amendment to LB425, one of the Natural Resources Committee priority bills. However, it has a $15 million fiscal note. I am turning over every rock and working all angles to get this funding secured this year.
In the end, many will likely remember the 2023 session as the session of the filibuster. That will certainly be true. However, I think that this session will also be remembered as the session where we passed transformative tax cuts for Nebraska families and made significant strides in moving more educational funding from property taxes to state support. It will also be remembered for taking Nebraska back to a state that prioritizes the lives of the unborn. To that extent, this can and should be a very memorable session.
Please feel free to reach out to me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or 402-471-2729.