![\"Sen.](\"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SenVargas_inline-200x300.jpg\")
The reports would include a revenue volatility report in even-numbered years, a budget stress test in odd-numbered years and a long-term budget for major programs every four years.<\/p>\n
Vargas, who is chairperson of the Legislature\u2019s Planning Committee, said the bill is the result of that committee\u2019s work. Research shows that states that engage in long-term budget planning are better able to address economic volatility, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to meet the needs of future Nebraskans, we have to start that planning now,\u201d Vargas said.<\/p>\n
Renee Fry, executive director of OpenSky Policy Institute, testified in favor of the bill. She said that stress testing in the past might have helped the state avoid painful budget cuts in difficult economic times.<\/p>\n
\u201cStress testing is an important budgetary tool [and] with a possible recession in 2020, it\u2019s prudent to prepare for all possible economic scenarios,\u201d Fry said. \u201cRecessions are difficult to predict and receipts can vary widely from projections.\u201d<\/p>\n
The committee also heard testimony on LB636, introduced by Gering Sen. John Stinner, which would create the Financial Condition of Counties and Municipalities Task Force.<\/p>\n The task force would consider the advisability of creating a system and rating criterion to detect, monitor and prevent financial distress in Nebraska cities and counties. It also would provide recommendations on the state’s role in alleviating such distress and present its findings in a report to the Executive Board.<\/p>\n Stinner said many rural communities face budget issues that leave them struggling to provide basic services and adequate public safety, often through no fault of their own. When political subdivisions encounter economic crisis, he said, the impact also is felt at the state level.<\/p>\n \u201cOutmigration trends over the last several decades have threatened the stability of county and municipal government tax revenues, putting tremendous stress on local infrastructures,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like some way of analyzing this.\u201d<\/p>\n The task force would include the chairperson of the Appropriations Committee and one other member of the Legislature selected by the Executive Board as nonvoting members. The ten voting members would include the auditor of public accounts and representatives from cities, counties and schools.<\/p>\n Christy Abraham, representing the League of Nebraska Municipalities, testified in support of LB636, which she called a \u201csincere effort\u201d to assist municipalities that are facing difficult times.<\/p>\n She said a task force would be a good first step toward deciding which factors should be taken into consideration in determining when a municipality might be in financial distress.<\/p>\n No one testified in opposition to either bill and the committee took no immediate action on them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Legislature would gain additional avenues to address state and local government budget concerns under two bills considered Feb. 28 by the Executive Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-25207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-executive-board","tag-sen-tony-vargas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25207"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25214,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25207\/revisions\/25214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sen.](\"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SenStinner_inline-200x300.jpg\")