LINCOLN- On Tuesday, the Nebraska Legislature voted to advance Sen. Linehan's LB727, despite several concerns. The bill, which offers everything from biodiesel credits, to airport improvements, to the expansion of Nebraska Crossing shopping mall, was cut down before being advanced. Combining around 30 bills in total, the body removed about $81 million worth of expected credits from the bill before advancing it to its third round of debate.

Sen. Linehan, who led the package of bills, said the trims were necessary to fit the bill within the projected state budget. "Everyone had to give a little bit," she said during the debate. Despite the cuts, and according to Lee Will, the governor's budget director, the trimmed bill will still provide around $50 million in tax breaks over the next four years. The bill also provides for a slew of tax incentives, which, according to Gretna Mayor Mike Evans, would "change Nebraska's image as a flyover state."

The four-hour-long debate of the bill was largely civil, but Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh condemned Sen. Linehan as "petty" and "disrespectful" for compelling the Legislature's Revenue Committee to "steal" the provisions of a home equity theft prohibition bill from her brother, Sen. John Cavanaugh, and then add it, under a different senator's bill, into LB727. Sen. Cavanaugh argued that such a move is indicative of the entire session, during which the accomplishments of the "minority party," the Democrats, are diminished and quashed by the "tyranny" of the majority.

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