Lincoln area senators look ahead to 2025 Legislative Session

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – This Wednesday, Nebraska’s 49 lawmakers will flock to the Nebraska State Capitol to begin the 2025 Legislative Session.

It falls to them to build a biennial budget proposal for the next two years, but already, projections show a roughly $400 million deficit that they need to close.

“We are mandated to pass a balanced budget in the state of Nebraska by the Constitution,” State Sen. Tom Brandt said. “It is going to happen. Will there be pain and suffering? I’m sure, but it will happen on the part of the Legislature.”

Many lawmakers say that means it won’t be a year for bold spending ideas. Instead, they’ll be looking for places to tighten the belt.

“I think working together we’ll be able to mitigate deep cuts on critical human services and key priorities like education,” State Sen. Danielle Conrad said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to also kind of chart a path together that keeps us on the right path and away from devolving into a divisive session.”

One big difference between this year and last year is time. 2024 was more of a sprint, just 60 days of legislative action. This year, it’s 90 days, dragging lawmakers to the beginning of June and giving them plenty of time to hammer out compromises—so long as there’s an appetite.

And more than a dozen new senators will be sworn in on Wednesday, which some more veteran lawmakers see as a boon.

“My last two years in the legislature have been marked by a lot of tumultuous fights, a lot of culture war issues, things like that,” State Sen. George Dungan, said. “With the new crop of people coming in, I think it gives us an opportunity to kind of hit that reset button and really have a conversation with each about why are we here.”

Every senator 10/11 NOW spoke with on Monday emphasized property taxes, though their approaches varied between targeted relief and more general cuts funded by sales taxes.

Many said they’re greeting the session with hopefulness.

“I think we’ve got an opportunity to make some big changes this year and really dive deep into some of those property tax issues that we spoke about this summer,” State Sen. Carolyn Bosn said.

Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Copyright 2025 KOLN. All rights reserved.