Income Tax Cuts Advance; Abortion Proposals Heard

Feb. 24, 2022, 8 p.m. ·

Nebraska Capitol (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)
Nebraska Capitol (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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The Nebraska Legislature Thursday advanced proposed income tax cuts, and heard proposals to limit or ban abortions. All Things Considered Host William Padmore talked to legislative reporter Fred Knapp for this legislative update.


Padmore: I'm William Padmore with Nebraska Public Media News and with me is legislative reporter Fred Knapp. Fred, what's been going on in the Legislature?

Knapp: There are several big issues that are up. Thursday afternoon there was a hearing on several abortion bills, including one so-called “trigger law” that’s sponsored by Senator Joni Albrecht, and it would outlaw abortion in Nebraska if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. Here's Senator Albrecht opening on her bill:

Albrecht: LB933 extends legal protection from abortion to every person at the moment of conception, taking effect if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned.”

Knapp: The bill triggered a strong turnout by opponents of such an abortion ban. Among those who spoke was Victoria Blum of Omaha who described the circumstances of her recent abortion:

“I was having extreme pain and I knew something was wrong. I've also had issues with my reproductive system in the past, which have been difficult mentally and physically to deal with. So I know that I don't want to ever physically bear a child, I would not have been able to afford it financially, I wouldn't have been able to handle all the medical bills, let alone the expenses of paying to raise a child. I struggle to pay monthly bills as it is to support myself. And I would have been devastated mentally if I was forced to have a child that I didn't want.”

Knapp: This is one of several bills dealing with abortion, and Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers has named it his priority.

Padmore: No doubt a divisive issue. What else have senators been working on?

Knapp: Thursday morning, they gave first round approval to income tax cuts both on the personal and corporate side. There's still disagreement over the distribution of who should benefit from those cuts -- the highest income people,, middle class or working poor, The bill advanced 40-1, but it's likely to change since several senators who voted for it expressed reservations. Here's how Senator Patty Pansing Brooks talked about her decision to support advancing the bill:

Pansing Brooks: I do it with hesitancy. But I also want you to understand that part of the problem that we have right now with our number one issue in the state, it isn't taxes. The number one issue in the state is workforce development…We have to promote the jobs that we have we have to promote the people who are in most dire need right now. We're not talking about dire need with this bill.

Knapp: And here's Senator Tony Vargas:

Vargas: My vote here does not mean that I will support it again on the next round of debate or in the final form. And so there are more issues addressed with how to make it more equitable and fair.

Knapp: Both Sen. Pansing Brooks in Lincoln and Vargas in Omaha are running for their Democratic Party's congressional nominations. And both have supported expanding the earned income tax credit in the past, which is reverse income tax on working poor people. It's a refundable credit. But the cost of whatever income tax cut they are ultimately going to approve need to be juggled with other tax cuts and other budget decisions.

Padmore: Sounds like something to keep an eye on. What do we have coming up in the Legislature?

Knapp: Senators have selected their priority bills and they cover subjects on everything from abortion to the right to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, the governor's $500 million proposal to build a canal from Colorado to Nebraska to bring Platte River water in, and the possibility of a new prison.

Padmore:We'll be keeping an eye on all of those things and more especially that canal.