LINCOLN — An attempt to add a major package of income and property tax cuts to a bill providing a tax break on Social Security checks ran into a logjam Friday in the Nebraska Legislature.In the end, the attempt to create a super-sized collection of tax relief proposals failed, with a vote to stop a filibuster falling one vote short of the 33 necessary.
State Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, who has made eliminating state income taxes on Social Security a priority, said his proposal is still very much alive, despite Friday’s development.
“We will regroup on Monday,” Lindstrom said, and work to attach provisions of Legislative Bill 825 onto another tax bill dealing with turnback taxes to support sports arenas, such as Omaha’s CHI Center.
That bill could also provide a vehicle for the whopper income/property tax relief proposal.
The Lindstrom bill — which had plenty of support to advance from second-round — would phase out all state taxes on Social Security by 2025. It would benefit an estimated 325,000 Nebraskans who rely on the federal retirement aid.But the state income tax cuts and an increase in property tax credits proposed in the larger tax bill, LB 939, ran into opposition from some senators who believe it helps mostly rich and not middle-class taxpayers. Because of the opposition, LB 939 was blocked from advancing on Tuesday. Thus, Elkhorn Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who introduced LB 939, sought a way to advance her proposal by attaching it to the Social Security measure, which was headed for passage.
Opponents of the move, such as State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, said it was a brazen attempt to piggyback the less-popular income/property tax bill on the top of a very popular measure, cutting taxes on retirement income.
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