NESCPA Legislative Update - Aug. 2, 2024
August 02, 2024
Today was Day 7 of the special session of the Nebraska Legislature. In all, 81 bills and 24 constitutional amendments have been introduced since Governor Jim Pillen issued a proclamation calling for a special session to address property tax relief. Legislative rules require all bills to be heard in committee hearings within five days of being referenced to a committee. As such, the Revenue Committee will continue hearings on Saturday, August 3, to wrap up a lengthy six days in a row of committee hearings – including a 10-hour hearing on LB 1!
LB 1 is a 140-page bill that essentially raises more revenue through a vastly expanded sales tax base and new taxes, and directs those revenues to property tax credits intended to offset property taxes collected by local school districts. LB 1 was introduced by State Senator Lou Ann Linehan (Elkhorn), chairman of the Revenue Committee, on behalf of Gov. Pillen and represents the major portion of his plan to cut property taxes. The Revenue Committee heard testimony on Tuesday, July 30, from individuals, business owners, government officials, and lobbyists from all over the state, with a majority of the testimony being in opposition.
Society Past Chairmen Ryan Burger of GBE in Seward and Lori Egger of CyncHealth in La Vista testified on behalf of the Nebraska Society of CPAs in opposition to the proposed sales tax on accounting services, which is included in LB 1.
The Society also delivered special “News Today” newspapers to every State Senator’s office on July 25, expressing concern regarding the proposed taxation of accounting and professional services.
In addition, John Cederberg, CPA of Lincoln presented testimony in regard to the language in Sections 52 and 53 of LB 1. Cederberg submitted a detailed 11-page letter to the Revenue Committee asking the committee to remove the language in LB 1 that would terminate the provision for Nebraska resident shareholders of S corporations and Nebraska resident members of LLCs, which have active business operations in multiple states, to include in their individual Nebraska taxable income only their proportionate share of the S corporation’s or LLC’s Nebraska source taxable income.
Special thanks to Ryan, Lori, and John for their time, talents, and passion for the profession!
The Revenue Committee will meet on Monday and Tuesday of next week in executive session to discuss LB 1 and other bills heard this week. Speaker John Arch (La Vista) announced this morning that the Legislature will reconvene next Wednesday, August 7. Debate is expected to begin on LB 1 on Thursday, August 8. Beyond that, the schedule for the remainder of the session remains unclear. Speaker Arch indicated it is likely that debate will continue on Friday and Saturday of next week. He does not plan to schedule any other bills until LB 1 has been fully considered.