Prior to adjourning for a long four-day weekend, the Legislature took action on 68 bills on Final Reading. During the past week, lawmakers gave final approval to legislation that would repeal the death penalty (LB 268) and to a bill (LB 623) that would grant driver’s licenses to children of undocumented immigrants. While Gov. Pete Rickets is expected to veto the death penalty legislation, the measure has consistently maintained the 30 votes required to override the veto.
State Budget
Governor Ricketts has given final approval to a two-year, $8.7 billion state budget. Citing a lower-than-average 3.2 percent growth in state spending and the provision of $204 million a year for property tax relief, the governor applauded the legislature for “following my lead.” In addition to the state restraints on overall state spending and funding for property tax relief, the budget includes a $42 million increase over the next two years for the Department of Correctional Services.
Bills Sent to Governor
The Legislature gave final approval on Thursday to a series of bills supported by NFIB:
Legislative Bill 156 – Angel Investment Tax Credit: Legislation introduced by Sen. John Stinner (Gering) will increase from $3 million to $4 million the amount of tax credits allowed annually under the Angel Investment Tax Credit Act.
Legislative Bill 226 – Securities Act/Crowd Funding: LB 226 will allow small businesses to seek start-up capital through new avenues under legislation introduced by Sen. Colby Coash (Lincoln). The legislation will allow all projects attempting to raise money to proceed without registration under state and federal securities laws and would require approval from the state Department of Banking and Finance.
Legislative Bill 259 – Personal Property Tax Relief: Nebraska businesses will receive relief from personal property taxes under LB 259. Introduced by Sen. Mike Gloor (Grand Island), the measure will exempt the first $10,000 of personal property from taxation. The bill is estimated to provide an annual savings of $162 per business taxpayer and aggregate tax relief of $19.6 million.
Legislative Bill 480-Workers’ Compensation: A measure introduced by Sen. Burke Harr (Omaha) contains the provisions of a workers’ compensation compromise package, including:
- Interest Rate on WC Awards – These provisions will reduce the interest rate currently applicable to awards of WC benefits on appeal from 14 percent to approximately 8 percent (T-bill rate plus 6 percent).
- Employee Misrepresentation – The defense of employee misrepresentation will be reinstated to allow employers to avoid having to pay benefits resulting from an injury or condition relating to misrepresentations given by the employee when applying for a position with the employer.
- Balance Billing of Employees – Will clarify that the prohibition against “balance billing” an employee for medical expenses in excess of the workers’ compensation fee schedule extends to finance charges and late penalties.
- Self-Insured Trust Funds – Will authorize trust funds required to be established under the Workers’ Compensation Act to be invested in the same manner authorized for corporate trustees holding retirement or pension plans for the benefit of current or former employees of political subdivisions.
Youth Minimum-Wage Bill Stalls
A measure to allow a lower minimum wage for high school age workers failed to muster the 33 votes required for final approval.
Under the legislation introduced by Sen. Laura Ebke (Crete), employers would have been allowed to continue paying workers under age 18 who don’t have dependent children $8 an hour as long as they represent less than 25 percent of a business’ payroll hours. (The state’s minimum wage for all other workers increases to $9 an hour in 2016.)
With the minimum wage moving to $9 an hour on January 1, 2016, it is not expected that legislation on this issue will be introduced next session.
Past Reports
