A range of opposition rises to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s budget bills

LINCOLN — From child care to tourism to banking, housing and wildlife, advocates of various Nebraska industries spoke in opposition Tuesday of Gov. Jim Pillen’s budget bills.

Sixteen people voiced objections to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, while Pillen’s state budget administrator Neil Sullivan defended recommendations aimed in part at addressing a projected $432 million state shortfall over the next two years.

Preliminary Appropriations Committee budget unveiled, includes Pillen cuts to NU

Mark McHargue of the Nebraska Farm Bureau spoke in a “neutral” capacity, saying he was not making a blanket endorsement but was in full support of the governor’s effort to put more state funds toward property tax relief.

People who wrote in opposition to Legislative Bills 260 through 264, all introduced on Pillen’s behalf by Speaker John Arch of La Vista, totaled 135. Three wrote in support of the proposals that were the topic of a combined public hearing at the State Capitol.

Tuesday’s hearing — the first of several opportunities the public will have over the next few weeks to speak on the state budget — offered a glimpse at budget-balancing challenges the governor and lawmakers face from diverse interests.

Pheasants, Quail, Ducks

Drew Larsen, representing Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, and Katie Torpy of Ducks Unlimited and the Nature Conservancy, were among several who objected to Pillen’s recommendation to redirect funds from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to other purposes such as park improvements.

They said such diversions betray the intent of Nebraska voters, who in 1992 approved a state lottery. A portion of lottery proceeds was to go to the Trust, which awards grants on a competitive basis to projects that “conserve, enhance and restore the natural environments of Nebraska.”

“We urge the Legislature to reject these bills and stand with Nebraska voters, conservationists and communities in protecting the integrity of the Trust,” Torpy said.

Carol Bodeen, representing associations for the Nebraska Housing Developers and Nebraska Economic Developers, stood up against redirecting $8 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $2 million from the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Fund to the general fund.

Benjamin Dennis, representing the Nebraska Advocacy Group (NAG) and a group of rural telecom and broadband providers, stood against the repeal of the Broadband Bridge Act he said was created by the Legislature in 2021 to provide $20 million annually in grants to improve access to Internet service. 

Public-private partnerships

Meghan Chaffee, representing the Nebraska Hospital Association, objected to reducing by $1.5 million a year the Rural Health Provider Incentive Program, which helps reduce education debt of qualified health professionals who agree to practice in Nebraska.

Also among testifiers was Jen Goettemoeller Wendl, representing First Five Nebraska, which opposes the transfer of $3.25 million from the Early Childhood Education Endowment Cash fund to the Education Future Fund.

She said the Early Childhood fund was created in 2006, and built on a private donation match that established a $60 million endowment. It is “problematic, possibly not legally permissible,” Goettemoeller Wendl said, to remove money from the fund and transfer it elsewhere.

“Eroding trust in public private partnerships is not in the state’s best interest,” she said.