Democratic candidate for governor shares details of fiscal policy under a Walz administration, Pillen shoots back

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lynne Walz offered more specifics Wednesday on her plans to address the state budget deficit, should she beat incumbent Gov. Jim Pillen in November.

Walz released an initial “Commitment to Nebraskans” letter on her campaign website in late July, which detailed her six priorities for a potential Walz administration. The former state senator also chose farmer and agriculture advocate Ben Steffen to be her lieutenant governor just a few days later.

The first iteration of “commitments” lacked details on exactly how Walz plans to address what she calls the “Pillen Budget Crisis” or to fix the state’s “broken tax system." Although, she did announce plans to immediately hire an independent auditor to investigate waste in the state government and call on the Legislature to pass an emergency bill restoring funding to the Veterans Aid Fund on her first day in office.

In a second round of updating her plans for a first year in office, Walz said she will broaden the tax base and adjust the state’s income tax system to better benefit working-class Nebraskans and small-business owners, rather than the highest-income earners.

“We need to close loopholes and adjust rates that allow our businesses to remain competitive while also keeping more money in your pockets,” Walz wrote.

Walz’s plan comes as the state is sinking deeper into a budget deficit. Lawmakers spent the 2026 legislative session closing a $471 million budget gap, only to have the $6 million surplus swallowed up by months of dwindling tax receipts. The budget deficit is now $208 million with another $840 million stacked on top of that for the next biennium.

In her priorities, Walz blames Pillen for the deficit in light of the $1.2 billion surplus the state had in its coffers back in 2023. Legislation introduced that year reduced individual and corporate income tax rates, from 6.84% to 3.99% in increments, with the lowest rate taking effect in 2027. But Pillen’s campaign manager Taylor Sliva responded to the blame by accusing Walz of lying.

“Her statement includes a total falsehood about the budget: Pillen has balanced the budget every budget cycle,” Sliva wrote in a press release.

Sliva added that a Walz administration would only raise government spending, put "biological boys" into girls' sports and see more tax incentives for data centers.

“Lynne Walz is light on the details — once again,” Sliva wrote. “In the legislature she had 8 years to bring forward solutions and failed. Her values are too liberal for (the) vast majority of Nebraskans.”

Brandon Bayer, a spokesperson for the Walz campaign, rejected the allegation that Walz supports tax incentives for data centers, adding that it’s just the opposite.

“Meanwhile, Jim Pillen appointed a pro-data center task force yesterday,” Bayer said. “He’s confused on his own record.”

Walz also criticized Pillen’s call on state departments to cut 5% of their budgets in the name of saving state costs. She called it “lazy and irresponsible budgeting.”

“Just like with your household budget, you wouldn’t cut your highest-priority items or the items that are bringing you additional revenue,” Walz wrote.

Walz wrote that she also plans to end no-bid contracts, which bypass legally required competitive bid processes and are typically used for declared emergencies; evaluate economic development tax-incentive tools; and create a tracking system for new data center developments.