LINCOLN- The projected tax breaks provided by the Nebraska Advantage Act far outstripped the tax revenue benefits of the program, a new report from the Revenue Department states.

In the report, the Department stated that the estimated tax credits to be provided by the Nebraska Advantage Act in fiscal year 2022-2023 were $93.4 million more than the generated tax revenue.

During a hearing at the Nebraska Capitol, the report was detailed to the Legislature, and state Sen. Tom Briese was disheartened by the news. "I'm not convinced it's a winning proposition for the average Nebraska taxpayers," he said, "To me, it's a subsidy."

Sen. Briese went on to state that the program appears to benefit a small number of companies and a small number of Nebraskans, not the whole state.

Rebecca Firestone, of the Open Sky Policy Insitute, shared a similar sentiment. Firestone sees programs like the Nebraska Advantage Act as economic incentive devices that fail to pay for themselves, and instead act as a "drain" on revenue to support schools, health care, and other state-run programs.

Firestone pointed out that the Nebraska Department of Revenue estimated that, in 10 years, the Advantage Act would have a cumulative revenue loss of $1.4 billion. However, a Revenue official told the Legislature that the report doesn't capture the secondary impacts of creating more jobs and economic investments in the state.

On the other hand, Jen Creager of the Great Omaha Chamber of Commerce, a group that supports 'performance-based' tax credits for businesses that create jobs, said the Advantage Act and similar programs help "level the playing field" with other states.

"Thirty-plus years of these programs have increased the economic diversity and viability of Nebraska through new jobs and a broader tax base," said Creager, "Look at Nebraska's economy in the 1980s and look at Nebraska's economy today."

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan stated that she'd always been skeptical of tax incentive programs, but understands that are necessary because of the state's high income and property taxes.

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