Senators debate property tax relief, school violence

LINCOLN — In its first week back since being suspended in March due to COVID-19, senators in the Legislature debated property tax relief, student discipline, land banks and a bill that would ban a type of abortion procedure.

On July 23, the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met to update its pre-COVID revenue projections. The revised forecast projected nearly $90 million will be available for high-cost legislative bills like property tax relief and business tax incentives.

Gov. Pete Ricketts addressed the Legislature July 24 and urged senators to package property tax relief and a business tax incentive bill together to get the votes necessary to pass. He emphasized their importance, especially the business tax incentive bill, since it would replace the Advantage Act, which expires in December.

The following are highlights from the legislative session July 20-24. The session is scheduled to wrap up on Aug. 13.

Legislators didn’t vote on a $520 million property tax relief bill after three hours of debate on July 20, and with senators split on its merits it’s unclear if there will be enough support to pass it.

Lawmakers had concerns about the $520 million funding for LB1106 over the next three years since the financial implications of COVID-19 were still unknown.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairwoman of the Revenue Committee, said the state is in a “crisis” because K-12 education funding relies too much on property taxes.

Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington said she agrees something needs to be done about property taxes, but she said LB1106 is not the solution.

“I care about property tax relief but I’m not going to do it on the backs of our students,” DeBoer said.

Senators allowed a surprising late-addition bill July 23 that would create local police oversight boards.

The bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, would create citizen oversight boards that evaluate the practices of local police departments starting in 2021. The bill would apply to cities with more than 5,000 people that employ full-time police officers. The board would be appointed by the mayor, approved by the city council and reflect a cross-section of residents, according to the bill.

Speaker Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk initially was opposed to the bill because he said he was concerned about the timing of introducing a bill so late into the session. But, after an hour of debate, he said he changed his mind and voted in favor of the bill.

“As we go forward in the rest of this session, I hope that all of us will quit our preconceived ideas or impressions of different bills simply because of what we’ve been told or what we think,” he said. “If we are going to accomplish great things in the last 14 days, we have to start acting as individuals, not as units of some group or some lobby. Let’s open our minds and be receptive to what is said on the floor.”

In order to pass the bill, Wayne had to request a motion from the Legislature to suspend the rules that require legislation to be introduced during the first 10 days of the session, or in early January. The motion passed 32-4.

Sen. Suzanne Geist’s pull motion to bring her abortion bill LB814 out of the Judiciary Committee was approved 30-8 on July 22. A pull motion is a way for a senator to request that the Legislature debate a bill that is stuck at an impasse in a committee.

LB814 will be debated on the legislative floor at a later date.

LB814 would prohibit the performance of dismemberment abortions on living fetuses, according to the bill. It would also provide for criminal penalties for physicians who perform live dismemberment abortions, as well as mechanisms for civil remedies. There is an exception for emergency situations.

Youth rehabilitation and treatment center changes proposed

Senators voted on July 20 to advance LB1140 including two new amendments that deal with the state’s youth rehabilitation and treatment centers.

LB1140 would change provisions related to youth rehabilitation and treatment centers and placement of juveniles. These changes include providing health care, medical services, programming, education, treatment and recreation for each juvenile in YRTC care. There would also be policies in place to separate juveniles based on gender.

One amendment would postpone any transfer or closing of state youth rehabilitation and treatment centers until March 2021 to have more time to finalize a plan and require considerations from stakeholder input, taxpayer investment and communities involved in the change.

Student athletes could earn money off likeness

The Legislature voted 37-6 to approve LB962, the Pay to Play Act, which would allow college athletes to be paid for sponsorships.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha. The bill was signed by Speaker Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk and presented to the governor.

Under the bill, student athletes could earn money from their name, image and athletic reputation. Student athletes still couldn’t enter into sponsorships that would require displaying the sponsor’s name or logo during games or conflict with an existing team contract.

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