Speaker says 2022 Legislature amassed big-time work product

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The 2022 Legislature adjourned last week with an outsized scorecard of big-time accomplishments, fueled in part by a billion dollars in federal pandemic relief funding and an unanticipated flow of state revenue.

At the top of the list for many senators was enactment of the largest tax reduction package in state history, a bill (LB873) that included income tax cuts, increased property tax relief and phased elimination of state income taxation of Social Security income.

Along with that came epic water development initiatives, including a $500 million plan to build a South Platte River canal and reservoir system (LB1015) to claim and capture water flowing into the state from Colorado, a right secured by a century-old compact between the two states.

Another major proposal (LB1023) sets the stage for construction of a 4,000-acre lake between Lincoln and Omaha that would promote economic development and tourism while extending the state’s water recreational opportunities to include the rapidly growing metropolitan complex.

That plan will await completion of studies to assure that the project would not interfere with the current and future supply of water to the cities of Lincoln and Omaha, along with an environmental impact study.

“There are still hurdles,” Speaker Mike Hilgers said, “still so much work to do.”

But there was more, much more, in this legislative session’s list of projects, including allocation of federal funding (LB1024) to build housing and create economic development opportunities in North Omaha and South Omaha.

The Legislature also set aside funding to build a new state prison to replace the aging State Penitentiary in Lincoln without yet pulling the trigger to begin construction.

“It’s incredible what we have done,” Hilgers, of Lincoln, said after the Legislature adjourned on the 60th and final day of its 2022 session.

An onslaught of filibusters this year grabbed headlines and slowed the process, but did not reduce the impact of the end product.

The huge allocation of funding and commitment to major projects was “very disciplined” in terms of careful consideration of ongoing costs and the future fiscal impact, Hilgers said, as were the tax cuts when measured against the long-term impact of declining state revenue.