LINCOLN — Earlier this summer Governor Pillen gave the Unicameral a save the date.
They needed to clear their schedules from July 26th to August 15th to carry out his promise to lower property taxes by 50%…
Those days have come and gone and Nebraskans still aren’t any closer to getting property tax relief.
“Your property taxes are gonna go up ten, twelve, fifteen percent this year. But we are going to give you relief of three percent? If that is not a decrease in the increase tell me what is,” said Senator Steve Erdman.
It took almost no time for Governor Pillen’s proposed plan to collapse under the weight of the opposition it faced and now Nebraskans are left with the potential for some relief, but no where near the billions of dollars that Pillen had envisioned.
The latest plan still front loads existing property tax credits to get some relief on your tax bill, it also expands school tax credits with $750 million dollars from the general fund.
But when you consider how much funding was already appropriated to the property tax credits the needle doesn’t move much even with the additional funding.
“It’s gonna cost us a million dollars to implement this new property tax program to offer $185 million. And we are OK with that?,” said Senator Justin Wayne.
The frustration in the chamber was palpable as senators took shots at each other and the speaker for how the session has been run and how many plans aren’t being considered.
“You want to have a debate on $150 million on recreational marijuana? There is no point in us even execcing (go into executive session) because the speaker won’t allow it to the floor,” said Wayne.
With no plan passed yet the question now turns to how long the body will stay in session.
Speaker Arch told lawmakers they can stay as long as they like to consider other bills, but only after the Governor back bills.
But the patience for compromise seems to be running thin and many senators are suggesting the body cut its losses and adjourn until January.
“I am off advancing everything at this point. The next time I am hitting my green button for something that is not an amendment is probably gonna be for scene die. This special session has passed its useful life as of this morning,” said Senator Julie Slama.
