Property tax relief bill killed on final day of Nebraska's legislative session

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A proposed property tax relief bill in Nebraska died Thursday on the final day of this year’s legislative session.

Lawmakers debated Legislative Bill 388, introduced by State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, for about two hours.

Before a vote to end the debate, Linehan requested to pass over LB 388, killing the proposal.

But Linehan said she’s open to returning for a special session, which would need to be called by Gov. Jim Pillen.

“I hope we have a lot of conversations between now and then about all your perfect answers to this problem,” she said.

The bill aimed to reduce property taxes by 22% by increasing taxes on other items, like cigarettes, and removing tax exemptions from pop, candy and lottery tickets.

The proposal also put a 7.5% tax on digital ads, which would only apply to companies with a combined gross advertising revenue of at least $1 billion.

State Sen. Julie Slama said there’s more work to be done to give Nebraskans property tax relief.

“Come back this summer with the attitude that we can do something transformational with our tax code, believe that we can do more than this for the taxpayers of Nebraska,” she said.

It’s unknown if or when Pillen will call a special session to discuss property tax relief.