2024 Recap: Kids, Taxes, Agriculture & Values

NEBRASKA, January 7 - 2024 Recap: Kids, Taxes, Agriculture & Values

Governor Jim Pillen

January 6, 2024

 

 

2024 was an excellent year for Nebraska. We stood strong for property tax relief, took steps to grow agricultural production, and protected our children and values.

 

Kids

In 2024, we took steps to protect children by signing LB 1092 into law. This bill protects our kids from the scourge of online pornography and oversexualization by requiring age verification to access pornographic websites. As a result of this legislation, Pornhub, the leading distributor of online pornography, ceased offering access to its site in Nebraska.

 

In addition, families who have babies born with intellectual developmental disabilities have been left in the dust for over 30 years because of a “registry” which resulted in years of waiting for assistance. That was unacceptable, so we invested $19 million to get in the game and get all those kids current.

 

It is simply the Nebraska way – help when help is needed and, when it’s not necessary, get government out of the way.  

 

Taxes

The summer special session produced LB 34 to continue the fight for property tax reform. Importantly, LB 34 limits year-over-year taxing authority by cities and counties to 0% or inflation, whichever is greater. This is crucial for keeping down property taxes, because our state has too many taxing jurisdictions that spend too much money. The bill also included the School District Property Tax Relief Credit program which frontloads refundable income tax credits to offset school property taxes. This bill ensured, for the first time this century, that Nebraskans will be paying less in property taxes in 2025 than they did in 2024.

 

The 2024 regular session also produced good legislation for Nebraska’s economy. Legislators passed LB 1087 which will qualify the state’s hospitals for approximately an additional $1 billion in federal Medicaid funds each year and is anticipated to benefit every hospital in the state. These funds will improve the quality and accessibility of health care statewide.

 

Agriculture

We also took steps to protect Nebraska’s number one industry, agriculture in 2024. Senator Barry DeKay introduced the Foreign-Owned Real Estate National Security Act (LB 1301) at my request. This bill updates Nebraska law to prohibit foreign land ownership by foreign adversaries identified by the federal government. This law will ensure that Nebraska’s agricultural land is not under the control of those foreign governments.

 

We also protected our livestock industry by implementing new regulations against lab-grown or cultivated meat to ensure that consumers are not misled at the grocery store by these products. Additionally, I signed an executive order that prohibits state agencies from procuring lab-grown or cultivated meat. The executive order also requires organizations that contract with the state not to discriminate against natural products in favor of lab-grown or cultivated meat.  

 

Values

My administration continued protecting Nebraska values throughout 2024. I vetoed an ill-conceived free needle exchange program for drug users and stood up against the Biden Administration’s effort to rewrite Title IX to allow biological men in women’s only spaces.

 

We also helped lead the movement to pass the Protect Women & Children ballot initiative to enshrine restrictions in the Preborn Child Protection Act (LB 574) of 2023 into our state constitution. These restrictions protect preborn babies by banning abortion starting at the 12th week of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergency. It will prohibit second and third trimester abortions entirely. I am optimistic that this change to our constitution will save even more lives. Data released this year showed that Nebraska’s abortion rate fell in 2023 following passage of LB 574.

 

Finally, we promoted Nebraska values by providing income tax exemptions to members of the National Guard through LB 1394 to incentivize recruiting and retention of these citizens who serve their neighbors in times of need.

 

2024 was a productive year for Nebraska and I look forward to working with the Legislature in 2025 to improve the lives of Nebraskans even more.