Mr. Dynamite
The Appropriations Committee is the James Brown of the Legislature. Like James, this committee is the “hardest working” of ’em all.Indeed, the nine members of the committee work so hard, they don’t have time to explain why they work so hard.
Last week, James made public the Preliminary Biennial Budget Report for FY17-18 and FY18-19. Far from the final product, this report is a baseline for further input and debate by the Legislature.
Critical input comes Monday with a prediction by the Nebraska Economic Forecast Advisory Board. The NEFAB consists of nine experts who offer an advisory forecast of future tax revenues. Their process is much more complicated than sticking a wet finger in the air, and slightly more accurate.
Monday is Day 39 of this 90-day session. James has until April 24 (Day 70) to finalize the recommended budget. For the next ten-days, senators whine, complain and offer changes, but the budget must be adopted by May 10 (Day 80). Just visualize James on Day 81, breaking into – I Got You. “I feel good (da, da, da, da, da, da, da) I knew that I would, now (da, da…
What’s up?
Last Wednesday, Senator Morfeld’s bill (LB 173) to prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity had a public hearing in the Judiciary Committee. Given political leanings of the committee members, look for the bill to advance to General File.
Senator Watermeier used his only priority designation on LB 44 that would collect sales tax from remote sellers on the Internet. LB 44 has not yet advanced to General File.
Legislative Links
- NA-BA Tracking Sheet
- All Introduced Legislation
- Committee Hearing Schedules
- Priority Bills
- Senator Contact Information
- Standing Committees