Nebraska lawmakers heard proposal ranging from legalizing marijuana to sending state aid to cities during their special session to try and reduce property taxes.
Meanwhile, debate continues over what should and shouldn’t be in the big tax bill senators are expected to debate in the first full week of August.
Testifying on behalf of his bill to legalize marijuana, Sen. Terrell McKinney said the state could collect more than $100 million in taxes that could be used for property tax relief. And he urged the Legislature to get in line with the national trend toward legalization.
“The feds are in the process of deregulating marijuana as we speak,” McKinney said. “Many states already have legalization on the books or are working through it. For us to just be ignorant and ‘Just say no’ tells me that we’re not serious about solving property tax relief and educational funding.”
Opposing the bill, Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson faulted marijuana legalization in Colorado with contributing to problems in Denver.
“Denver is struggling with a lot of challenges right now: addictions, societal challenges, violence just being a few,” Hanson said. “If you were to ask my opinion, which I’m assuming you’re doing, I do believe a large portion of that is focused back on the rapid growth of marijuana industry.”
Also Friday, debate continued over what the Revenue Committee should or shouldn’t include in what it sends to the full Legislature.
Gov. Jim Pillen has proposed a “hard cap” of zero percent or inflation, on annual increases in property tax collections by local governments, including cities. Sen. Justin Wayne told the Revenue Committee the state should give cities aid in exchange for accepting those caps.
