Deadline Arrives For Priority Bill Selections
This week, Nebraska lawmakers will begin the second half of the legislative session and will await the February 26 meeting of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. The forecasting board sets the official revenue figures used by senators to balance the state budget.This past week, senators spent the week debating and voting on priority legislation,
including bills pertaining to underage drinking, fees received by clerks and registers of deeds, and horseracing.
February 19 marked the deadline for all senators and committees to designate their priority legislation. Priority bills are generally considered before other bills in the order of debate, giving priority bills a better chance of passage during this session, which is scheduled to conclude on April 14. Each senator is permitted to select one bill as his or her priority for the session, while each committee may select two bills.
Friday was also the last day for senators to submit requests for speaker-designated priority bills. Speaker Mike Flood will announce up to 25 priority measures on Monday, February 22.
Next week is the last full week of committee hearings; all-day floor debate is set to begin March 1. Currently, there are more than 50 bills awaiting action on Final Reading, the third and final stage at which a bill is considered by the full Legislature.
Senator Hadley Prioritizes LB918 To Modernize Nebraska Advantage
The key economic development bill of the legislative session was named a priority bill this week by its sponsor. LB918 was designated the priority legislation of Senator Galen Hadley of Kearney, who introduced the bill earlier this year. On February 17, members of the Revenue Committee voted unanimously to report the bill to full Legislature.
LB918 aims to modernize the incentive programs found in the five-year-old Nebraska
Advantage Act and the two-year-old Super Advantage Act in three ways:
· It would allow sales of software over the Internet - not just on computer disc - to
qualify for tax incentives. Current Nebraska Advantage guidelines often disqualify businesses utilizing such "cloud computing" models, even though they may meet
employment and investment thresholds.
· The bill would also amend the Nebraska Advantage by adding the definition of data centers to the list of qualified activities and allowing smaller data centers to qualify for property tax exemptions.
· Finally, it would amend the Nebraska Super Advantage Act to ensure that "wages paid" by the employer include employee benefits such as health insurance and retirement contributions made by employer.
Such changes would particularly help communities in greater Nebraska by providing more opportunities to recruit higher-paying jobs.
To view the bill, go to Nebraska Legislature LB918
Bill To Tax 60 Additional Services Scheduled For Hearing
On February 25, the Revenue Committee will hold a hearing on a legislation that would significantly expand the state's sales tax. LB1066 by Senator Cap Dierks of Ewing would impact approximately 60 services not currently subject to the tax. If passed and signed into law, the bill would require the taxation of construction services.In 2002 and 2003, the Legislature substantially broadened the sales tax to include more services. An analysis conducted in late 2009 by the Legislature's Revenue Committee staff found Nebraska already "taxes numerically more services than most states." The State Chamber opposes LB1066 and any other legislation that proposes to further expand Nebraska's sales tax to include more services. Such a policy decision would have a particularly harmful effect on business-to-business transactions - especially those of small and mid-sized businesses.
To view the bill, go to Neb Legislature LB1066
Upcoming Hearing Dates For Key Legislation
The following upcoming hearings pertain to bills of interest not yet mentioned in this issue of the Legislative Report. Most of the hearings begin at 1:30 p.m. CT.
· Construction and Remodeling: LB700. Hearing Date: February 22; Business and Labor Committee. LB700 would require certain construction and remodeling work to be supervised in order to obtain a building permit.
To view the bill, go to Nebraska Legislation 700
· Small Claims Courts: LB847. Hearing Date: February 25; Judiciary Committee. LB847
would amend statues relating to Small Claims Court to provide a defendant a method for
vacating a default judgment rendered by a Small Claims Court. Under this proposed change, a litigant in a small claims matter would still be allowed an appeal for an error on the record under section 25-2807 and would also be able to motion the court to vacate the default judgment in the same manner as allowed prior to the passage of LB1014 in 2008.
To view the bill, go to Nebraska Legislation 847
Our thanks to Nebraska Chamber of Commerce for giving us permission to use their news information.
If you would like to review any other legislation, go to the Nebraska Legislative web site by clicking here: Nebraska LegislaturePaula Siewert