LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – A week before the Legislature is expected to reconvene for a special session, Gov. Jim Pillen held a news conference on his push to reduce Nebraska property taxes by 50%.
The announcement comes after the governor has been holding town halls around the state in recent weeks promoting his plan. According to a release from Pillen’s office, he has also been having regular meetings with senators focused on the issue.
“In Nebraska, property tax collections have accelerated at a rapid rate. In a few short years, they will reach more than $1 million a day, or $6 billion a year,” the release states. “Nebraska is among states for highest property taxes in the nation and the governor has made tax reform a central goal of his administration.”
Pillen initially charged the Unicameral with coming up with a 40% reduction in property taxes. But the bill put forward failed in the spring session. The governor clarified that he’s now looking for 50% — with some getting back 65% or 70%.
The governor released a proposal booklet, paid for by Pillen For Nebraska, on his website on Thursday, that takes aim at “special interest” tax breaks.
“Our state currently exempts nearly $7 billion from sales tax collections. Some of these exempts make sense, like exemptions for food and medicine. But many of the others are only on the books due to a paid lobbyist who got the exemption passed when Nebraska had the money.”
The governor said his plan isn’t bold.
“No, it’s not bold. It’s just fixing the solution,” he said.
But John Gage, director of the Nebraska chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals, said in a statement that Pillen’s plan has “massive costs” and would implement “the largest tax increase in state history.”
“While other Republican governors are working to make life more affordable for their constituents facing sky-high living costs under the Biden economy, Governor Pillen is pushing a plan that would be the largest tax increase in state history. AFP-NE will continue educating voters about the massive costs of this tax scheme and make sure the lawmakers who support it are held accountable.”
EDUCATION FUNDING
All schools’ funding is in place for the upcoming school year, he said, with a plan to start conversations in the Legislature in January about the 2025-26 school year with a target of 3% annual growth — a number Pillen said he’s committed to keeping in place.
“Just remember: More money and more people don’t solve all the problems. What we have to do is we have to come together and make sure that we don’t keep asking for more measurables to hire more people to keep track of stuff. Let’s focus on educating our kids,” Pillen said Thursday.
Solving that problem will enable teachers to be paid more and students to receive a better education, he said.
“Who can be against solving our problems so we can pay teachers more and have great outcomes for our kids? That’s what this plan does,” he said. “Let’s clean the closets out. We don’t need to have so much administrative bloat in school systems and we can pay teachers more. That’s where the money come from,” the governor said.
Same for community colleges, he said. “Same model. Same backstops.”
Pillen said that policies need be set up so communities that need more money than the state can provide get it instead through a bond issue approved by voters.
He also said that his plan will help renters, too, and dismissed critics, saying they clearly don’t have assets they rent out.
“If you’re going to not share — if anybody’s been in that business — do you want to have a good renter or a bad renter? If you have somebody that doesn’t take care of your place, you can charge enough for rent,” he said. “The market will correct, and renters will win by property tax reform. Not a shadow of a doubt. That’s the free market. That’s how it works. Those of you that say that doesn’t happen, well the one thing we can agree: what we’re doing now, rent will keep going up. … This plan will solve the problem. Not a shadow of a doubt.”
SPECIAL SESSION OUTLOOK
Pillen did not have any details about when he would formally call the special session — which isn’t currently on the official legislative calendar — or how narrow the focus of the proclamation, but he said it will begin next Thursday, July 25, and would likely revolve around bills introduced by the appropriations and revenue committees.
“We’re gonna have bi-partisan support that’s gonna exceed 33 votes for this session. It’s not ifs ands or buts about it,” he said.
Pillen said that all 120 exemptions are on the table. The only untouchables are groceries and medicine.
Asked whether this is dead in the water because of opposition, the governor said: “Listen to what they say; watch what they do.”
“I have full confidence in all the 49 members of the Legislature to be able to critically think, ask questions, work through compromise. You know, nobody’s genuflecting at the altar. Are you kidding me? We’re Nebraskans,” he said.
But Gage said in his statement that he expected the tax plan to fail as it did during the spring legislative session: “Governor Pillen’s scheme to shift more taxes onto working and middle class Nebraska families was defeated once, and this special session will be no different.”
Read the governor’s property tax playbook
ALSO WATCH: ‘Dead in the water’: Nebraska lawmakers raise concerns over governor’s property tax plan
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