Short recess

It may be a short recess for Nebraska lawmakers.
Though the 2024 60-day session officially ended Thursday, state lawmakers know that they will be headed back to Lincoln one day soon to tackle a property tax relief plan most Nebraskans agree is a top priority. There were some objectives accomplished in the short session, but Gov. Jim Pillen pulled no punches in the session’s final address, advising lawmakers that this year’s work is not yet finished.
“I will call as many sessions as it takes to finish the long-overdue work of solving the property tax crisis,” Pillen said. “We will finish this work, and we will finish it this year.”
Like him or not for using that kind of tone as senators prepare to head for home, that’s leadership from the governor’s office. Pillen has made it clear in his second year at the helm that he’s a no-nonsense kind of guy. He believes, correctly, that property taxes are a priority and a major problem in this state, thus he’s pushing hard to find solutions.
There was a great deal of focus on this issue throughout the session, though in typical style the votes that mattered were delayed to the final hours. In its initial form, LB 388 was ripe with issues that didn’t sit well with lawmakers or a number of business groups and anti-tax advocates, mainly in regard to Pillen’s push to include a 2-cent increase in the sales tax rate, plus adding taxes to several goods and services. Strong opposition to that concept threatened to kill the bill, leading to a scaled-back version put before lawmakers on the final day. That version did not include a sales tax rate hike, but it still failed without a vote to move it forward.
So the question now looming is what changes can be made to the property tax relief package that will make it palatable for lawmakers? Senators may have to start from scratch in some sense, which wasn’t possible with the time constraints of a 60-day session, but may in fact be doable in a special session.
There is homework to be done by the Revenue Committee and legislative leadership, hinting that it may be a long summer.
In other words, stay tuned, Nebraska. 
Kurt Johnson