Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen told Speaker John Arch by letter on Tuesday that he will call a special session on property taxes July 25th.
Pillen had given lawmakers a “save the date warning” of late July or early August in his column last week.
Arch said last week that calling a special session would be no surprise because property taxes are important to Nebraskans and need to be addressed.
After getting the governor’s letter, he told senators to meet Thursday-Saturday, July 25-27, for bill introductions, then return Monday the 29th for the start of legislative hearings.:
Bills offered at the governor’s request are introduced first, followed by all other bills or resolutions. The Nebraska constitution mandates that lawmakers in special sessions address only matters within the governor’s official proclamation, which can be amended.
Speaker Arch said it will be up to the Legislature as a body, not himself, to determine whether a bill qualifies or not. That could be done in referencing, within a committee or on the floor of the Legislature through a procedural point of order.
Arch said lawmakers will not take up any ceremonial or congratulatory resolutions, and he’s asked committee chairs not to schedule any interim studies – explaining he wants only property tax relief and the housekeeping task of confirming appointments.
While Pillen has said a special session would be solely focused on property taxes, he indicated in his letter that he could be open to other “unfinished business” with “time sensitive matters requiring attention this year.
He specifically cited Nebraska’s system of awarding its 5 electoral votes by giving the statewide presidential winner 2 and awarding one vote to the winner of each congressional district.
Pillen wrote that “this practice is inconsistent with our constitutional founding, out of ste with most of the rest of America, and signals disunity.” The state Republican party has pushed hard for a winner-take-all system for more than a decade.