'Going back to the drawing board': Property tax relief debate paused for long weekend
The push for property tax relief gets put on hold for a little while.
LB 388 which calls for up to a one cent increase in sales tax to cut property taxes has been debated heavily on the legislative floor.
State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan asked for the pause after four hours of debate Wednesday to give her colleagues time to review the school funding portion of the package. An amendment, LB 1331, was just filed Thursday and could be voted out of the Legislature's Education Committee on Tuesday
"One of the reasons for pause is we don't have the funding bill for medical education committee out, so we need that bill out. So, you can see how the money is going out. I think that's part of the problem," Linehan said.
She believes that will reframe the question of the tax package.
READ MORE: Nebraska Gov. Pillen praises new property tax relief plan
"They keep talking then if you vote for this, you're voting for sales tax increase. Here's what will become very apparent next week. If you don't vote for this, you're voting for property tax increase, and you're voting not to fund our schools as well as we should," Linehan said.
She said LB 1331 would cut the property taxes Nebraskans pay for school in half by doubling foundational aid from $1,500 per student to $3,000 per student.
She said without the package, homeowners in Omaha, Lincoln and Urban areas where valuations have climbed will see massive property tax increases.
"When your valuations go up, your state aid goes down. That's the system we have. If you want to keep it, all your taxes will go up," Linehan said.
"If we don't take care of it, we're gonna have a crisis," Linehan said.
But opponents say the pause is because the votes are not there to break a filibuster.
"Currently, there's no way that they have 33. And they know that, so the pause is going to put them in a position where they don't have time to get the bill done," state Sen. Steve Erdman said.
He opposes the bill because he says it doesn't fix the problem.
"This is a nothing bill," Erdman said.
"Clearly there's enough people who have issues with it from the left and from the right and from the center. So I think they need to go back to the drawing board," state Sen. George Dungan said.
'We've got to figure out something': State senators spend hours debating property tax relief. See the story here.
"At the end of the day, if we increase sales tax for Nebraskans, it's going to disproportionately hurt middle-class and working-class people," Dungan said.
On Thursday, Gov. Jim Pillen, who supports the plan, said he is continuing to lobby lawmakers.
"We all have to have the courage to do what's right. Property taxes are breaking us from our homes. It’s keeping us from having people come to Nebraska. We have to do what's right and and putting the past myths of politics away," Pillen said.
Erdman said he isn't going to be swayed.
"This proposal is nothing more than a tax increase," Erdman said.
Neither is Dungan.
"I'm a hard no on any increase in sales tax," Dungan said.
Linehan said she hasn't given up.
"This is how the Legislature works. We work, we get to a point right now where it looks like everything is falling apart, and nothing's going to get done. And then some miracle happens. And by the time we get to the end, a lot gets done," Linehan said. "Eight days is a lifetime in the legislature, especially at the end."
Lawmakers could resume debate on LB 388 as early as Tuesday.
They still have another four hours on first-round debate before a cloture vote can be taken.