Statement by Mark McHargue, President, regarding the Unicameral’s passage of Governor Pillen’s historic tax and education package

LINCOLN, NEB. – “The Nebraska Farm Bureau has been fighting for property tax relief for rural Nebraskans for decades, and today marked a major victory for every tax paying Nebraskan. The legislature’s approval of LB243, LB583, and LB754 is transformational for the entire state, and especially for our farmers and ranchers. We thank the senators for their tireless efforts to get this package across the finish line in this unique year, and we thank Governor Jim Pillen for his visionary and aggressive approach in tackling the state’s most pressing issue.”

“The property tax burden placed on our farmers and ranchers has long been inequitable and in need of reform. That disparity was evident within the public-school funding formula, the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act, or TEEOSA. The Governor’s historic tax and education package delivers needed education funding reform and tax relief in several ways:

• Increasing state funding for public schools through foundation aid, special education funding, and a dedicated fund to ensure sustainability of this new funding;
• Placing a reasonable and workable cap on how much public schools can ask of property taxpayers for school funds;
• Removing community college property tax asking authority and replacing that financial resource with state funds that grow responsibly over time;
• Expanding the Property Tax Credit Fund, which is the largest source of property tax relief in the state, and allowing for further growth in the Refundable Income Tax Credits recently created; and
• Reducing the corporate and personal income tax rate from 5.84% to 3.99%.”

“Only ten years ago, there were elected leaders who were unaware that high property taxes in Nebraska were an issue. To see the size and scope of relief delivered in today’s votes shows a massive amount of will of the elected officials and the voters of this state. We thank the senators that supported this measure and Governor Pillen for working with the key stakeholders to arrive at this monumental solution. To say that electing the first Governor rooted in agriculture in nearly a century was key to this success is an understatement. Nebraska’s lifeblood is agriculture, and we are seeing the state’s largest industry supported with this legislation.”

The Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, state-wide organization dedicated to supporting farm and ranch families and working for the benefit of all Nebraskans through a wide variety of educational, service, and advocacy efforts. More than 55,000 families across Nebraska are Farm Bureau members, working together to achieve rural and urban prosperity as agriculture is a key fuel to Nebraska’s economy. For more information about Nebraska Farm Bureau and agriculture, visit www.nefb.org.