48 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN March 2024 POLICY Session Halfway Mark LAURA FIELD | NC EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT The short, 60-day session of the Nebraska Legislature is more than halfway complete, and things are moving at a quick pace in Lincoln. In late January, the Nebraska Cattlemen (NC) Board of Directors met as a Legislative Committee to discuss and take positions on legislation introduced before the 2024 Nebraska Legislature. Prior to the meeting, leadership from each of the six policy committees met and reviewed bills of interest relating to NC policy. Committees then presented the bills to the full committee for discussion and consideration. More than 55 bills were considered and acted upon. The board of directors affirmed the Legislative Committee recommendations and took positions of support, oppose or monitor. Two priority bills were named along with two priority statements on the topics of foreign ownership of agricultural land, and tax relief and reform. Because of the shortage of large animal veterinarians practicing in rural Nebraska, Sumner Sen. Teresa Ibach introduced LB 1062. The bill amends provisions in the Rural Health Systems Professional Incentive Act and provides a loan repayment program for veterinarians who dedicate at least 50 percent of their practice to care of livestock in the state’s rural areas. If enacted, the bill would also add a veterinarian to the Rural Health Advisory Committee. NC Animal Health and Nutrition Committee Chair Dr. Jared Walahoski testified in favor of the bill and shared thoughts with the committee on the concern many members have with the shortage of large animal practitioners, especially in the more rural parts of Nebraska. Kearney Sen. John Lowe introduced LB 1375. The bill is the result of collaboration of the associations representing the major agricultural commodities in Nebraska working with interested parties seeking to encourage economic development of the livestock industry in Nebraska. The livestock and farm groups spent time during the interim working with Gov. Pillen and his policy team to discuss concerns of the county zoning process for permitting livestock facilities and agricultural enterprises. The bill would prohibit redundant conditions on applicants and establishes a timeline by which counties have 90 days to act on a complete application. It also disallows the requirement of state and federal permits as a condition of approval by a county board. Permitting new or expanding current livestock facilities continues to be a challenge for livestock producers in Nebraska, and Nebraska Cattlemen will continue to engage on this topic to help remove hurdles for development of the livestock industry in Nebraska. The NC Taxation Committee considered more than 20 bills related to tax relief and reform. Positions were taken on each bill individually, but the combination of a number of bills align with NC policy, and the committee opted to make the following statement of what should be contained in a package that advances for consideration: “Nebraska Cattlemen believes Nebraska’s total combined state and local tax revenues should be equally derived from sales, income and property tax collections, and is monitoring a number of bills related to tax reform and relief. Nebraska Cattlemen supports increasing sales tax collected by broadening the base, increasing the rate or a combination thereof so long as sales taxes are not placed on true business inputs, with the net effect being long-term reductions in property taxes. Nebraska Cattlemen further supports mechanisms that reduce, cap or limit the spending of political subdivisions.” While no single bill accomplishes the overall goal of a more equal balance of sales, income and property tax, a combination of many bills introduced would move the state in that direction. Nebraska Cattlemen will be carefully tracking these bills and the actions of the Legislature’s Revenue Committee as it advances a package for consideration by the entire Legislature. Another topic that has garnered much attention during the interim is that of foreign ownership of agricultural land in Nebraska. There are a few bills that were introduced this session. Nebraska Cattlemen policy opposes agricultural land ownership or control by adversarial foreign entities and took positions to support bills that address this concern. As a reminder, every bill introduced in Nebraska gets a committee hearing, and the hearings concluded on Feb. 29. Each senator can name one priority bill, and each standing committee can prioritize two bills for the session. Those designations were made mid-February, and full-day floor debate will begin March 4. Any mid-biennium budget bills must be on the floor by March 7, and the Legislature is schedule to adjourn on or before day 60 on April 18. Nebraska Cattlemen in actively engaged with the Nebraska Legislature and will continue to monitor the list of bills acted upon for the reminder of the session. ~NC~
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