UPDATE: Governor reflects on accomplishments of 2019 session

UPDATE:

With the 2019 legislative session over, Gov. Pete Ricketts reflected on how it panned out.

On the subject of property tax relief, the governer said lawmakers made progress on that front.

“We passed a very responsible budget and we were able to increase the property tax credit relief fund by $51 million,” Ricketts said.  “That’s a 23 percent increase, that means $275 million a year, which is nearly double what it was when I first started working with the legislature on this roughly five years ago.”

Ricketts also mentioned passing a law that will prevent local taxing entities from automatically raising property taxes.

“They’ll have to have a hearing and a vote — a proactive vote — to take more property taxes from you and that will help with tracking taxpayer transparency,” he said.

He said there’s more work to do for more tax relief, like changing ag land valuations to an income–potential assessment.

The governor talked about lawmakers’ work to provide relief in the wake of the 2019 floods.

“They have put $11 million into the Governor’s Emergency Fund, which will help us pay for this disaster and future disasters,” he said.  “They also have passed property tax relief for victims of the disaster.”

He said the state continues to work with the federal government to help with the recovery.

A bill that did not make it this year was to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska.  An effort is underway to gather enough signatures to put it on the 2020 ballot.

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The 2019 legislative session has come to a close.

Channel 8 Eyewitness News sat down with Gov. Pete Ricketts for his assessment about what lawmakers accomplished this year.

Ricketts said lawmakers made progress on property tax relief.

“We passed a very responsible budget and we were able to increase the Property Tax Credit Relief Fund by $51 million,” Ricketts said.  “That’s a 23 percent increase, that means $275 million a year, which is nearly double what it was when I first started working with the legislature on this roughly five years ago.”

Ricketts also mentioned passing a law that will prevent local taxing entities from automatically raising property taxes.

He talked about Legislature’s work to provide relief in the wake of the 2019 floods.

“They have put $11 million into the Governor’s Emergency Fund, which will help us pay for this disaster and future disasters,’ he said.  “They also have passed property tax relief for victims of the disaster.”

He said the state continues to work with the federal government to help with recovery.