Nebraska’s governor says he’ll call lawmakers back to address tax relief

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen threatened from the beginning of this year’s legislative session that he would call lawmakers back for a special session if they failed to pass a bill to significantly ease soaring property taxes. On the last day of the 60-day session Thursday, some lawmakers who helped torpedo an already anemic tax-shifting bill said they would welcome Pillen’s special session.

“We’re not going to fix this bill today,” said Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, the lone independent in Nebraska’s unique one-chamber, officially nonpartisan Legislature. “The time we’re going to fix this is going to be in a special session where we start from scratch.”

Pillen followed through in his address to lawmakers just hours before they adjourned the session without taking a vote on the property tax relief bill he backed, saying he planned to issue a proclamation for a special session.

“I will call as many sessions as it takes to finish the long overdue work of solving our property tax crisis,” he said.

Nebraska law requires that a special session can be no shorter than seven days and that actions considered must be limited to the subjects outlined in the governor’s proclamation. Pillen has in recent weeks said he would also consider a special session to change the way Nebraska allots its Electoral College votes to a winner-take-all system. Currently, Nebraska splits its presidential electoral votes based on the popular vote within its three congressional districts. Maine is the only other state to split its electoral votes.

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