LINCOLN- LB408, the proposal to place a 3% annual limit on local property tax increases was trapped by a filibuster Thursday night and disappeared from this year's legislative agenda after eight hours of intense debate. The 29-8 roll call vote to end the filibuster fell four senators short of the 33 required to free the bill for further consideration.
A last-ditch effort to gain sufficient votes to invoke cloture, the legislative motion to end debate, was built upon a promise to try to negotiate an alternative compromise property tax plan that could attract 33 votes before any effort would be made to try to advance the bill.
"Park the bill and try to find a way to move forward," Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk urged.
Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said "property tax relief is my No. 1 priority" and his committee and the Legislature already are delivering relief in a variety of ways. The state's fiscal 2021-23 budget contains $1.45 billion in property tax relief over two years. Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg expressed concern that the premise of the bill was that local government spending needed to be limited because it was too high when the evidence in his legislative district shows school district spending increases below the rate of inflation.
"Our constituents elected local leaders to make those decisions," Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln said. "This would take control away from local governments when you say you support local control."
In response to the vote, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer, a former two-term state senator, said that when she was in the Legislature "we stood up and we took a stand...We voted. We did not pass on votes. We were accountable to our constituents," she said. "We didn't hide behind this seemingly now acceptable practice of 'present, not voting.'
"I have refrained from publicly stating positions on state Legislature activities since I left the Unicameral," Fischer said, "but this must be said...This must change.... Know this — the 'present, not voting' is in reality casting a No on their vote."
Fischer announced that after considering a run for governor in 2022, she would not seek the seat and instead stay in the United States Senate.