Nebraska special session: Public hearings on ‘EPIC’ tax proposal, sports betting

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – The task before Nebraska lawmakers is a challenge: 81 hearings by Saturday night.

Gov. Jim Pillen called the special session to fix the state’s property tax crisis; two proposals dominated Day 5 discussion on Wednesday.

The public hearing on Tuesday about the governor’s plan to cut property taxes lasted nearly 11 hours. Members of the Revenue Committee were back in their chairs at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

They admitted they were tired — a little sluggish after such a long day.

Opponents testified for the last five hours Tuesday night because there weren’t any more supporters there to speak. On Wednesday, humor helped get things going when Kyle Rhone of Bellevue wore a shirt that says “EPIC Option” across the front — which was the subject of the tax hearing.

“We’re not suppose to have signs or anything but you’ve managed…” said Elkhorn Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, chairwoman of the committee.

Rhone laughed, and offered to take the shirt off.

“I want to follow the rules, ma’am,” he said.

“You leave it on, OK,” Linehan replied.

“That’s a good thing,” he said, “because I have more rolls than a bakery.”

Without moments like that, the hearings can get pretty monotonous sometimes.

It did get serious with some heartbreaking personal stories of losing a home because they couldn’t pay property taxes.

The “EPIC Option” — a statewide tax of 7.5% on what we consume — in order to eliminate all income, property, and inheritance taxes.

Opponents argued the tax would need to be at least three times that to cover the difference. Organizers failed to get enough signatures to put it to a vote of the people this summer.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard believes this is the answer to the state’s high property tax problem — and there was a long line of people who spoke in support of the epic tax.

Among them was Patti Barnt of Mullen.

“In 2011, I had to make the difficult decision to sell the ranch that had been in my family for almost 100 years. The deciding factor was property taxes,” she said. “I was paying about as much in property taxes as I was in hay and feed.”

Supporters want the Revenue Committee to forward the EPIC Option to the full Legislature so it can be debated as one of the solutions to help those who are drowning in property taxes. That voters deserve to answer the questions at the ballot box.

In another hearing room just down the hall, the General Affairs Committee heard testimony for and against online sports betting in Nebraska.

Supporters believe this would add $32 million a year to help reduce property taxes, basing that number on what’s happening now when people go into Council Bluffs to place their sports bets since you have to be in Iowa to make them.

Senators heard data that said there are 64,000 active sports betting accounts in Nebraska, and 18,000 crossed into Iowa just to bet on football earlier this year — arguing that the state is already losing that money.

Opponents, such as Husker coaching legend Tom Osborne, said allowing young people to gamble on their phones without having to travel to Iowa will simply create more problem gamblers — and tear apart families.

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