State Senator Justin Wayne of Omaha talks with State Senator Rob Clements of Elmwood. August 14, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN – The Nebraska State Legislature on Thursday introduced the second of two special session budget bills designed to offset the costs of a slimmed-down property tax relief plan.

But state senators spent most of their arrival day venting their anger over what they would have wanted in a property tax package and looking for a last-minute way to provide more substantial relief.

Essentially, Senators looking for options other than Speaker John Arch’s special session procedures/processes watched Wednesday’s failed filibuster debate on the first budget bill and said, “Same thing.”

The Budget Committee revised Bill 3 to move $22 million in fees and interest collected by state agencies into the general fund to cover some of the costs of Bill 34, a property tax relief package being pushed by Gov. Jim Pillen and his allies.

After eight hours of debate, the bill passed by a vote of 35 to 11. LB 3 followed Wednesday’s passage of LB 2, which included $117 million in spending cuts. Together, the two would cover most of the cost of the new $185 million relief package.

State Senator Rob Clements, chairman of the Budget Committee, said the state will use $46 million from its cash reserves to cover the rest, but LB 3 will help cover some of the costs.

Clements repeatedly defended the committee’s decision to offset or use interest earned from state fees for license plates and other items made by state prisoners.

He eventually agreed to an amendment by Senator Terrell McKinney of Omaha restoring the $250,000, arguing that the conflict over the issue was not worth the loss of the other $22 million to $23 million.

“We don’t need to delay this money because we have problems right now that need to be resolved,” McKinney said.

Clements apologized “for the great uproar this has caused” and said that no one raised issues regarding correctional funds during the committee’s hearings on LB 3.

“That is why we introduce and discuss bills,” he said.

Clements thwarted a similar attempt to restore $2 million from the Universal Service Fund, part of which is used to improve broadband and cellular service in rural areas.

“We have found financing that will help fund the property tax without hurting a single agency that has a cash fund,” Clements said.

For the second day in a row, state Senators Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha argued during a special session that there was no need to provide funds for property tax relief.

But members of the Budget Committee, including state Senator Steve Erdman of Bayard, pushed back against attempts to block the cuts, saying that Budget Committee members take their jobs seriously.

As the Examiner reported on Thursday, much of the debate was overshadowed by efforts to push through more property tax relief than was proposed in House Bill 34, introduced this week.

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