{"id":36712,"date":"2024-07-31T13:34:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T19:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=36712"},"modified":"2024-07-31T13:44:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T19:44:37","slug":"budget-changes-considered-to-help-fund-property-tax-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=36712","title":{"rendered":"Budget changes considered to help fund governor’s tax plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Appropriations Committee heard joint testimony July 30 on two bills intended to help fund the governor\u2019s property tax relief proposal.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Robert Clements<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB2, introduced by Elmwood Sen. Robert Clements at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, would reduce reappropriated general funds \u2014 also known as carryover funds \u2014 from fiscal year 2023-24 and FY2024-25 by $116.7 million across more than 40 state programs.<\/p>\n

The measure also would reduce general fund appropriations by approximately $83 million annually, some of which would be offset by cash fund transfers.<\/p>\n

LB3, also introduced by Clements at the request of the governor, would authorize and provide for fund transfers, change certain fund transfer provisions, change application of investment earnings and amend certain fees.<\/p>\n

The bill would reduce the state\u2019s Cash Reserve Fund by $235 million and eliminate the crediting of accrued interest to more than a dozen cash funds. Those dollars instead would be directed to the state\u2019s General Fund, at an estimated rate of approximately $35 million annually.<\/p>\n

In addition, LB3 would remove statutory caps on fee structures for more than two dozen state programs, instead allowing them to set fees based on the annual percent change in the Consumer Price Index or as required to pay the costs of program administration.<\/p>\n

The bills were presented to the committee by State Budget Administrator Lee Will, who called the proposal a \u201ccommitment to all Nebraskans that the state will continue to do more with less.\u201d He said the cuts were recommended after an evaluation that took into account potential projects and ongoing agency needs.<\/p>\n

Will said the changes would \u201crightsize\u201d fee structures and ensure that taxpayers aren\u2019t subsidizing user-fee based programs, such as inspection and permitting programs. In addition, he said, the governor\u2019s office remains committed to drawing down all available federal funds to the state to help offset reductions outlined in the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our view that nearly every agency must contribute to the effort of tax reform to ensure that we can thrive and grow as a state,\u201d Will said.<\/p>\n

A small number of code agency directors \u2014 those who are appointed by the governor and report directly to him \u2014 testified in favor of the proposal, including Steve Corsi, CEO of the state Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n

Corsi said the department is leveraging federal funds to offset the loss of millions of dollars to various division programs under the proposal. As a result of that influx of federal money and other efficiencies, he said, services would not suffer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am absolutely not concerned about the future,\u201d Corsi said.<\/p>\n

Heidi Ore, testifying on behalf of the Foster Care Review Office, opposed LB2. She said the office, an independent state agency charged with oversight of Nebraska\u2019s foster care system, would lose more than 10% of its base funding under the proposal.<\/p>\n

That change could jeopardize federal IV-E funds, she said, and lead to \u201cimmediate\u201d staff layoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask that you not cut corners when it comes to the lives of children in out-of-home care,\u201d Ore said.<\/p>\n

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen opposed a proposed $250,000 reappropriation in LB2 of Election Administration program funds. He said those dollars are needed to continue a voter education campaign regarding the state\u2019s new voter ID law ahead of the November general election.<\/p>\n

Several testifiers, including Nebraska Game and Parks Commission director Timothy McCoy, expressed concern about the proposed shift from state general funds to a greater reliance on user fees for some state agencies.<\/p>\n

He said the commission likely would need to raise park permit, camping, lodging and park activity fees by 26% to make up for lost funding under the governor\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not want to price people out of their state park system,\u201d McCoy said, adding that the state needs to remain competitive with fees charged by neighboring states as well.<\/p>\n

Testifying in opposition to both bills was Joey Adler Ruane of OpenSky Policy Institute. He called the proposal \u201cunprecedented\u201d outside of a significant financial crisis that would negatively impact 22 state departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsorbing this level of cuts will undoubtedly make it more difficult for these critical agencies to provide programming and services at the levels necessary to serve all Nebraskans,\u201d Adler Ruane said.<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on either proposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Appropriations Committee heard joint testimony July 30 on two bills intended to help fund the governor\u2019s property tax relief proposal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36706,"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":[5,21],"tags":[240],"class_list":["post-36712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-appropriations","category-special-session","tag-sen-robert-clements"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/LB2Clements7-30-24a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712","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=36712"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36721,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712\/revisions\/36721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}