Seating ran short during Monday night’s lawmaker listening session, with over 300 people packing into the Wick Alumni Center on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln city campus to address lawmakers on property tax relief — just 3 days before those lawmakers are to reconvene for a special legislative session addressing the same subject.
Several Lincoln senators were among the dozen or so lawmakers in attendance. After some brief remarks, lawmakers intently sat and listened to dozens of residents each given two minutes to speak their mind before their representatives.
For two hours, as one people spoke, another would jump in the queue. The demographic of citizen attendees skewed older, with the occasional 20-something offering bleak perspectives on home ownership. The speakers were of mixed residency statues, including home owners, renters, and landlords alike. Many were expressly working class, or retired on fixed income.
A Neglected Forum
Some speakers remarked on the context of this town-hall-like event, and a similar Omaha event the night prior, expressing disappointment in Governor Jim Pillen’s recent property tax listening session tour skipping over both Lincoln and Omaha, the state’s two most populous cities.
Quickly and repeatedly: income tax reductions passed last year by lawmakers came under scrutiny — as individuals not within the state’s top bracket. Dialing back or pausing this drop, scheduled to hit 3.99% by 2027, was offered as a solution. During a Columbus town-hall in late June, the Nebraska Examiner reported Pillen saying that “income tax won’t be touched.”
Spitballing possible cost cutting measures, some speakers called on lawmakers to institute prison reform, other called for more watchful spending and robust auditing of state spending.
Reforming laws and regulations around marijuana appeared widely popular among attendees, citing the increased tax revenues seen by other state’s who have legalized cannabis recreationally. Capitalizing on hemp farming operations was also mentioned as a new revenue source.
Perhaps the most unanimous objection from the crowd, regarding Pillen’s floated plan for the state to take over K-12 public school funding, was a strong lament of losing local control of schools.
One speaker asked, “What if we hit another recession, and our K-12 schools suffer?”
Another speaker, a retired school teacher, told lawmakers, “local schools are not one-size-fits-all.”
One real-estate owner levied criticisms towards lawmakers sitting before her, characterizing the filibustering efforts during recent sessions as “a waste of time.” Choked up, her strong call for lawmakers to take action was given a round of applause from the crowd.
As the listening session neared a close, one of the final speakers received a round of applause by stating simply that Governor Jim Pillen’s hog farms ought to be taxed, powerfully.
Representative Reactions
“I’ve heard a lot in the last few days,” Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, who attended both listening sessions in Lincoln and Omaha, told KLIN News. “Making sure we keep local control of public schools, making sure that what ever we do is thoughtful and no rush. We need to make sure we’re thinking of all Nebraskans, but protecting those who are not well off.”
McKinney was unsurprised to hear of solutions like criminal justice and cannabis reform brought up. The north Omaha senator has been vocal about these issues on legislative floor.
“If we truly want property tax relief, and better ways to fund our education system, we cant be closed minded to legalizing marijuana and decreasing our prison population in the best way possible,” said McKinney.
“The most consistent theme he’s heard from constituents, has been a general objection to both the content of this proposal… and to the process which it is being done. Northeast Lincoln Sen. George Dungan told KLIN. “The fact that we are this many days away form a special session, and there is still no pen to paper? That makes a lot of people really nervous, and we hear that in the room today.”
Dungan echoed the importance of maintaining local control, and said he was excited to hear speakers engaging with new revenue/cost-saving ideas like marijuana legalization and prison reform.
“We’re all playing it by ear… but I remain, as I did last session, opposed to any plan that doesn’t provide actual targeted property tax relief without being regressive, and causing a disproportionate impact on everyday Nebraskans that then provides a windfall for major corporations and incredibly wealthy land owners,” said Dungan.
“We heard a lot about equity tonight, we heard a lot about sustainability tonight, we heard a lot of citizens mention that they have more questions than they do answers… and that’s very troubling,” said Sen. Danielle Conrad of North Lincoln.
Conrad said the resounding message she is hearing from her constituents, “Do. No. Harm. First. Do not rush into a reverse robin-hood tax scheme that’s really gonna hurt our local schools and really benefit the richest.” Also remarking, if the plan is not more concrete, we may see a repeat of last year’s legislative session where the Governor’s spearheaded property tax relief bill received bipartisan opposition.
The Eve of an Extraordinary Session
Now primed debate, all 49 state senators will return to the Nebraska State Capitol on Thursday, July 25, for the special session.
Pillen said he would intend for the session to continue “until it finishes its unfinished business,” and will issue a proclamation that will precisely define the “unfinished business” prior to the session beginning.