STATE AUDITOR MIKE FOLEY WARNS OF $1.5 BILLION DRAIN ON STATE DUE TO CORPORATE TAX BREAKS

LINCOLN- The state auditor warned of a $1.5 billion drain on Nebraska coffers due to corporate tax breaks. In a letter to lawmakers Monday, Mike Foley said the $25 billion worth of investments and 33,000 jobs were due to corporate tax incentives since 2006. But those tax instead of come at a cost, and he said this could drastically affect the budget.

Using the department's own data, Foley has disclosed that the total delinquent and protested tax balances as of June 30, 2024, exceeds $657 million. Foley said when you combine the business tax incentives, plus potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in uncollected tax proceeds. The result is a staggering loss to the state.

"It's awful easy to vote for tax breaks, but it's tough to pay for them sometimes," Foley said.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE WON'T PASS PROPERTY TAX FIX IN TIME FOR TAX DAY, OR MAYBE AT ALL

LINCOLN - Nebraskans hoping to file their 2024 taxes on time and still cash in on the state’s new property tax relief have waited in vain. Gering Sen. Brian Hardin submitted LB81 this session with the intent of correcting an error with LB34, the property tax relief bill signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen at the end of the summer special session, called for exactly that purpose. 

Three senators later discovered that the law had “inadvertently nullified” Nebraskans’ ability to collect on their 2023 property tax credit when they file their 2024 income tax, and several senators vowed to correct the error in the next session. Instead, the bill has languished in committee.

“LB81 has stalled in the Revenue Committee without the support among committee members to advance to General File, and lacks the support in the body as a whole for a pull motion,” Gering Sen. Brian Hardin told First Alert 6 on Tuesday, which is also Tax Day. “I am disappointed there is not the desire among the majority of my fellow senators to right our wrongs from the 2024 Legislative Special Session,” said State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering

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MARCH 2025 GENERAL FUND RECEIPTS RELEASED

Tax Commissioner James R. Kamm and the Nebraska Department of Revenue released the General Fund Receipts for March 2025.

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EXPANDED SPORTS GAMBLING IN STATE FACES UPHILL LEGISLATIVE CLIMB TO 2026 BALLOT

LINCOLN- Legalizing online sports gambling in Nebraska appears to be a risky bet for some state lawmakers. A proposed constitutional amendment advanced Monday but faces an uphill legislative climb. Legislative Resolution 20CA, from State Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, would put the decision on whether to legalize online sports betting to voters at the November 2026 election. It advanced 27-16 in the first round of debate in the 49-member body. But as at least one opponent promised a full-fledged filibuster during the next debate stage, the measure would need 33 votes instead.

State Sen. Dunixi Guereca, a freshman whose Omaha district is on the Iowa-Nebraska border, repeated Monday what he said in his 2024 campaign: from his front porch, he can see people going over a bridge to Iowa, pulling off into a gravel lot and placing bets. He said Nebraska’s inaction is moving tax dollars to Iowa. “I don’t want you to like sports betting,” Bostar said, “but I would hope that you would find an offense in us giving our money away to Iowa.”

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LAWMAKERS ADVANCE BILL TO LOWER CONTRIBUTION RATES TO TEACHER RETIREMENT FUNDS

LINCOLN- A bill that would put roughly $77 million into filling Nebraska's budget deficit by adjusting the state's teacher retirement plan was given an early green light, despite procedural concerns. Legislative Bill 645, introduced by State Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln on behalf of Gov. Jim Pillen, would lower the contribution rate to the Statewide School Retirement Plan for teachers, school districts and the state. The bill advanced through its first of three rounds of floor debate in a 38-0 vote Thursday. 

Opponents objected to the "rushed" process Ballard followed to amend the bill, and claimed supporters are trying to balance the budget on the backs of teachers, despite Nebraska's largest teachers' union supporting the amended legislation. In 2013, Ballard said the retirement plan was at a $108 million deficit, so lawmakers responded by raising contribution rates across the board. The strategy worked, he said, and as of July 1, 2024, the plan was 99.1% funded and on track to be 100% funded by next year. 

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BURIAL, CREMATION REQUIREMENT FOR PROCEDURAL ABORTIONS ADVANCES

LINCOLN- State lawmakers took a step Tuesday toward requiring Nebraska health care facilities that perform procedural abortions to dispose of the remains by cremation or burial. Legislative Bill 632, from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, advanced 34-11, with one senator who voted “yes” saying after that he had done so inadvertently. However, whether the bill will have the 33 votes needed to keep moving forward depends on negotiations between Hansen and State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston for a possible amendment. 

Hansen has described the intent of LB 632 as uplifting the “dignity” of an aborted fetus, similar to a 2003 Nebraska law requiring hospitals to have a written policy for the proper disposition of the remains of any child born dead at a Nebraska hospital. 

State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, whose nonprofit I Be Black Girl is focused on reproductive justice, led opposition to the bill. She was a key part of an unsuccessful ballot measure in 2024 to expand abortion rights in the state to the point of fetal viability. Spivey blasted the bill as a “back door attempt to ban abortions” in the state, which Hansen repeatedly denied.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS TO DEBATE TRANSGENDER BATHROOM, SPORTS BAN NEXT WEEK

LINCOLN- Nebraska lawmakers will debate one of this year's most controversial proposed laws Tuesday, when they will take up a bill that seeks to ban transgender people from school bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that don't align with the gender assigned to them at birth.

Sen. John Arch of La Vista, the speaker of Nebraska's Legislature who sets the body's agenda, announced Wednesday that lawmakers would begin debate on the bill (LB89) at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Progressives have already filed motions signaling a filibuster of the bill, which will require 33 votes to overcome. Lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to end the filibuster at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, Arch said.

Arch's announcement sets the stage for a contentious debate on the bill, which more than 100 people opposed at a marathon public hearing in February that lasted more than 10 hours.

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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUTS PUT NEBRASKA COUNTERTERRORISM RESEARCH CENTER FUNDING IN JEOPARDY

OMAHA- Federal funding for counterterrorism research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha remains in limbo after the consortium leading several projects received mixed messages from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week.

The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center, better known as NCITE, learned April 8 that its 10-year cooperative agreement originally worth $36.5 million had been terminated by DHS.

A day later, however, DHS notified UNO it was pausing the termination of NCITE’s cooperative agreement, which allowed the center to begin building a network of researchers across dozens of universities around the country and the world.

“NCITE and UNO have not received further updates from DHS,” the university said in a statement. "The university is hopeful that DHS will continue to fund NCITE research."

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GOV. JIM PILLEN ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION OF NEBRASKA'S PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR

LINCOLN — The director who handles public health matters for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Charity Menefee, has resigned.

Gov. Jim Pillen announced the departure, effective May 9, in a statement Tuesday that said Menefee decided to devote more time to her family. Menefee has served in the position since 2021. She oversees preventative and community health programs, including epidemiology, vital statistics, regulation, and the licensure of health-related professions and healthcare facilities and services.

“Leading and serving alongside the dedicated people at the Division of Public Health has been the greatest honor of my career,” Menefee said in a statement.

The Governor’s Office offered no information on interim leadership, saying details would come later.

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NEBRASKA MAY EXPAND LAW CREATING HARSHER PENALTIES FOR ASSAULTING HEALTH WORKERS

LINCOLN- A bill to increase the penalty for assaulting a pharmacist or any employee in a hospital or health clinic in Nebraska advanced from its first round of voting in the Legislature on Wednesday after an eight-hour filibuster that stretched over two days.

Senators disagreed over the preventative effects of LB322. Supporters said it would help to keep health care workers safe and feel more secure. Opponents said it is already a crime to assault anyone, and the bill set a harsh penalty that would put more people in prison. Despite the lengthy debate, the bill passed its first of three rounds of voting by a comfortable margin. 

An existing law makes assaulting health care professionals like doctors and nurses a felony, but it excludes pharmacists. State Sen. Stanley Clouse of Kearney said the Nebraska Pharmacists Association brought the bill to him to bring their profession in line with others in the health field. The Legislature's Judiciary Committee amended the bill to include all employees in a hospital or clinic, regardless of whether they're a health care worker.

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'IT'S NOT OVER': MEDICAL CANNABIS REGS FAIL TO ADVANCE FROM LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

LINCOLN- A legislative committee failed to advance a bill Thursday meant to help implement and regulate medical cannabis in Nebraska, leaving the sponsor and advocates on the hunt for a new path forward. The General Affairs Committee stalled, voting 5-3 against advancing Legislative Bill 677 from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. Senators tried to advance the bill as-is after none of the eight members entertained a motion on whether to amend the bill during continuing negotiations on how best to implement the overwhelming voter approval of medical cannabis in November.

Hansen, after the vote, described his legislation as “a must” for 2025 to prevent the “Wild West.” That’s because without legislative action, the regulatory commission voters created with the ballot measure has no effective power or funds to regulate medical cannabis. The lead spokesperson for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana also said the fight isn’t over. Unless the committee reconsiders, Hansen faces a tough path to getting LB 677 into law, though the legislative rules do provide a path.

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FORMER STATE SENATOR HEADS BACK TO UKRAINE TO SHOW SUPPORT

LINCOLN- A former state senator and decorated U.S. Army veteran is headed again to Ukraine in hopes of providing reassurance that Americans still support the country’s fight for freedom against Russia. This month, former Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon is making his fifth trip to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, and he feels it might be the most precarious. The war, he said, has morphed from a battle at the front of artillery and tanks into an exchange of cheap but dangerous drones and Russian “glide bombs” that can’t be detected by air defense systems.

An additional goal of the latest trip, he said, is to make connections with agricultural officials in Ukraine. Nebraska, with its farm building and equipment sector, could play an important role in rebuilding the country, according to Brewer. “If we don’t do anything until the war ends, we’ll lose that opportunity,” he said. Don Hutchens, a retired head of the Nebraska Corn Board, is among those traveling to Ukraine this time.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE ASKS APPEALS COURT TO RECONSIDER DISMISSAL OF HISTORY CASE

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Attorney General’s office, as promised, is challenging a State Court of Appeals dismissal of its prosecution of the former director of the state historical society. In a rarely filed and sometimes sharply worded “motion for rehearing,” state prosecutors maintain that the Appeals Court erred in granting a dismissal last month of the theft by deception charge faced by former director Trevor Jones.

The 21-page request, signed by acting Solicitor General Zachary Viglianco, argues that it was wrong to dismiss the felony charge without hearing arguments by the AG’s office, and that the dismissal was premature by not giving the AG’s office 10 days to contest it. The court granted a “summary dismissal” of the charge faced by Jones, thus discharging the prosecution without hearing arguments from the AG’s office.

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$50M PRICE TAGE FOR HISTORIC SANDHILLS RANCH SAID TO BE RECORD-BUSTER, THOUGH NOT ALL ARE HAPPY

LINCOLN- One of the most historic and largest multigenerational ranches in the Nebraska Sandhills — owned by only two families since the Cherry County land was settled in the late 1800s — is poised to find new owners. With an asking price of $50 million, the 55,136 acres could rake in the biggest sum ever for a Nebraska ranch. Located in the nation’s No. 1 cow county — and including nine miles of the Snake River, eight miles of Gordon Creek, 26 solar wells, 79 windmills, 20-plus artesian flowing wells and an airplane hangar — the property has grabbed the attention of potential buyers from numerous states.

Some members of the Abbott family, which bought the property from the Metzgers over a half-century ago, object to letting go of the ranch where whitetail and mule deer run, walleye and trout fishing is common, and the Ogallala Aquifer nourishes grassy meadows for acres. Chris, who has been the ranch’s main steward, wants to hold onto the operation, but the majority of the five brothers and sisters who are major shareholders have voted to sell and focus on other areas of their lives.

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NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST AG, FINDS CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM BILL CONSTITUTIONAL

LINCOLN- After a multi-year legal fight, Nebraska's Supreme Court ruled Friday that a 2023 criminal justice reform law challenged by the state's Republican Attorney General is constitutional after all, reversing a lower court's ruling.

In a 37-page ruling issued Friday morning, the state's high court said a Lancaster County District Court judge erred when she ruled last March that a portion of the law, known as LB50, violated the separation of powers laid out in Nebraska's constitution.

Friday's ruling paves the way for the full implementation of the law nearly two years after lawmakers passed the sweeping criminal justice reform package with bipartisan support on a 34-15 vote.

Prison officials never implemented the law's most substantive reform, which would have allowed some inmates to become eligible for parole earlier, establishing a "streamlined" route to parole for nonviolent offenders who complete required programming and avoid disciplinary issues for two full years ahead of their eligibility date.\

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WINNER-TAKE-ALL BILL STALLS IN LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Legislature killed a bill seeking to alter how the state awards Electoral College votes for president after Republicans in the officially nonpartisan body failed to secure enough votes to overcome a four-hour filibuster. Tuesday was Gov. Jim Pillen’s latest failed attempt in two years to pressure the Legislature to change the state’s system of awarding electoral votes since the resurgence of a decades-old fight after President Donald Trump and campaign surrogates expressed support for the change during his 2024 campaign, which some pundits thought might come down to the results in Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District.

State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City lacked the 33 votes needed to overcome the filibuster and advance his bill, which echoed what he said on Monday — that he didn’t have the votes for LB 3. The measure secured 31 votes for cloture. “The argument for returning the winner-take-all system isn’t rooted in partisanship. It’s about ensuring that Nebraska’s electoral process aligns with the national framework and guarantees that every vote truly matters,” Lippincott said on the floor, introducing his bill.

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SOCIAL MEDIA PROTECTIONS, STUDENT PHONE BAN ADVANCE AGAIN IN LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN- State lawmakers are one debate away from adopting two bills backed by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen meant to increase online safety for minors and curb student phone use at school. Senators on Wednesday, by voice vote, advanced Legislative Bill 504, the “Age-Appropriate Online Design Code Act” by State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln. It would require online services to explicitly protect minor users and their personal information in the physical design of certain applications or websites, including social media.

LB 504’s goal is to tackle rising youth social media use and harms such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bullying, harassment, stalking, suicide, and more. Bosn, a former deputy county attorney in Lancaster and Saunders Counties and a mother of four young children, said the online services covered under her bill profit off of users’ data, including from screen time, clicks, or purchases. She added that families know the importance of bills such as LB 504 and how difficult it is to stay ahead of an “ever-changing online world.”

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LAWMAKERS APPROVE SMALL INCREASE IN STATE AID TO NU

LINCOLN- Lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee approved a 1.25% increase to the University of Nebraska's state aid Tuesday but opted not to give an additional boost in the second year of the biennium budget cycle. In approving the increase on a 7-1 vote, the committee reversed a previous decision backed by Gov. Jim Pillen to trim 2% from NU's state appropriations over the next two years.

The decision came after several delays over the past week as lawmakers considered how cuts from the federal government were impacting NU. The increase adds roughly $8.7 million to NU's existing appropriation in both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 budget years, bringing the university system's total funding from the state to $708 million.

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who raised concerns about a meeting Tuesday morning among committee members in which registered Democrats were excluded, was the lone no vote against the agreement struck by Pillen and NU administrators. Omaha Sen. Ashlei Spivey did not vote.

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BILL ADVANCES TO END LIFETIME FOOD AID BAN FOR NEBRASKANS WHO SERVED TIME FOR DRUG FELONIES

LINCOLN- A Bellevue state senator’s priority bill to remove a lifetime ban on public food assistance for Nebraskans convicted of drug felonies advanced Thursday to its next law-making step, despite resistance from a fellow Sarpy County lawmaker. Currently, Nebraska has a narrow exception to the ban for people with one or two drug possession or drug use felony convictions. They can access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, if they have completed a licensed and accredited treatment program.

Legislative Bill 319, championed by State Sen. Victor Rountree of Bellevue, would open the door for other felony drug offenders who currently can’t access SNAP benefits, as long as they’ve completed their sentence or are on parole or under post-release supervision. A 32-5 vote moved LB 319 forward. Seven lawmakers were present and did not vote. The most vocal opponent was State Sen. Bob Andersen.

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SOLAR ADVOCATES URGE CONGRESS TO KEEP CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDITS

LINCOLN- A nonprofit solar energy advocacy group joined a Nebraska business and others for a press conference Wednesday calling on Congress to preserve federal tax credits for clean energy projects. The tax credits, Liz Veazey of Solar United Neighbors Action said, have and will continue to benefit residents and businesses should they stay in place in the next federal budget, which is being negotiated in Washington, D.C.

In 2023, Veazey said, more than 16,000 households in Nebraska saw benefits from the credit. She added that federal investments have also supported 20 new clean energy facilities in Nebraska, including five that are manufacturing American products. Veazey specifically thanked U.S. Rep. Don Bacon and 20 other House Republicans who, as reported by news website Politico last month, have urged “the party to preserve the clean energy tax credits” established in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in 2022.

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