OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A group of state senators will hold a public forum here Sunday ahead of an expected special session next week.

The community meetings will be held in Omaha and Lincoln, which weren’t stops on Gov. Jim Pillen’s tax plan town hall tour across the state this summer — though he did hold his first one in Bellevue, which he announced two days prior.

The first of the senator’s two-hour listening sessions on state property taxes and school funding is set to run from 1-3 p.m. at the UNO Thompson Alumni Center, located near 67th and Dodge streets.

The event is being hosted by several state senators, many of them representing the Omaha-metro area:

The same group will host a second community meeting from 5-7 p.m. Monday at the UNL Wick Alumni Center in Lincoln.

The forums are expected to address Gov. Jim Pillen’s “playbook,” unveiled in a news conference on Wednesday, along with a promise to cut Nebraska property taxes in half.

Nebraskans who aren’t able to attend either session are invited to submit their comments to the group via an online form.

Pillen initially charged the Unicameral with coming up with a 40% reduction in property taxes. But the bill put forward failed in the spring session. The governor clarified Thursday that he’s now looking for 50% — with some getting back 65% or 70%.

Mayor Jean Stothert said she supports property tax reform but called out the lack of details coming from the governor and Elkhorn Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, one of the state senators who has sponsored the bills. The mayor says Pillen’s tax plans would be detrimental to city services.

Some state senators have expressed their skepticism in Pillen’s plan — and even in the notion that a special session will be called at all, much less come to an agreement on a tax plan that failed during the spring session.

“There’s been no call for a special session — and special sessions are really meant for circumstances that are urgent, not for do-overs when the governor cant get people behind a bill,” Blood told 6 News earlier this week, noting that only two state senators — State Sens. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn and Robert Clements of Elmwood — appeared at the news conference in support of the governor.

Even some senators from the governor’s own political team aren’t behind his plan. State Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling slammed Pillen in a tweet this week, saying “‘The Plan’ robs Peter to pay Pillen.” She told 6 News the governor’s plan is simply “corrupt.”

—

Get the latest breaking news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for 6 News email alerts.

Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.