The 17 day special legislative session that was called to address property tax relief ended Tuesday afternoon Nebraska lawmakers ended the session by passing LB 34. The bill will provide additional money for the state’s property tax credit program.
“The 40-45 percent of people that weren’t claiming their credit are now going to get it on their property tax statement,” says Senator Lou Ann Linehan. “That may not sound like a lot, but that’s a month of groceries, or two months of groceries. That’s a big deal.”
The bill also caps spending for local governments and Linehan says anything over three percent spending growth can go to property tax relief. “I know people don’t think LB34 is enough, I don’t think it’s enough,” says Linehan, who spearheaded the bill. “We brought bigger things, it got whittled down, then we brought something else it got whittled down even further.”
LB2 and LB3 were also signed by Pillen. They will implement various budget cuts and cash transfers to provide an additional $185 million in relief.