As March nears, the legislature is wrapping up its final week of hearings. Starting on March 2, the Legislature will switch to all day floor debate of bills that have advanced from committee. The Greater Omaha Chamber continues to stay engaged at the Capitol on legislation that supports competitiveness and growth. This week, we are focused on three key developments: the upcoming Revenue Committee hearing on LB1165, unanimous Final Reading passage of LB719, and our opposition testimony on LB988 to preserve effective, locally controlled tax increment financing.
Next week, the Chamber’s top priority for the 2026 session, LB1165, the Grow the Good Life Act (Sen. Brad von Gillern, Elkhorn), will be heard in the Revenue Committee on Wednesday, February 25. LB1165 strengthens Nebraska’s competitiveness by boosting benefits within existing incentive programs for new projects that meet defined requirements, while also creating a targeted, performance-based tool to help key Nebraska employers expand employment.
Just as importantly, LB1165 is built for moments when Nebraska is most vulnerable to job loss: when major employers change hands through mergers or acquisitions. To qualify for the retention piece, an employer must meet significant employment thresholds, maintain its Nebraska workforce at no less than 90% of pre-transaction levels, and ensure qualifying employees earn at or above the statewide average wage with competitive benefits. The credit is capped both annually and in total, can be applied against corporate income tax or employer withholding, and includes reductions and recapture if employment levels are not maintained, ensuring the incentive is earned only through results.
LB1165 directly supports what we heard in the Chamber’s Brain Drain & Perception Studyunveiled at our Annual Meeting. The study found that the Omaha metro has major strengths in livability and affordability, but identifies wages as a key area where Omaha lags peer metros, including on cost-of-living adjusted and real wage growth. In other words: quality of life can get talent’s attention, but the study’s recommendations are clear that career opportunity and job quality are what ultimately “seal the deal.” By strengthening performance-based incentives tied to jobs, and by creating a targeted tool to protect high-wage employment when major employers change ownership, LB1165 helps ensure Nebraska can compete not just on affordability, but on the kind of higher-wage career opportunities that keep people here and attract them back.
In addition to LB1165, we saw important progress on another Chamber priority today. LB719, sponsored by Sen. Mike Jacobson (North Platte), cleared Final Reading unanimously, 48–0. LB719 updates the Nebraska Rural Projects Act to better reflect the realities of modern industrial development in rural communities. The bill expands eligibility for state support to include critical off-site infrastructure, such as rail connections, road access, and utility improvements, when those investments occur in public rights-of-way or on property not owned by the applicant. By allowing projects to be developed as connected, functional sites rather than isolated parcels, LB719 helps make rural industrial and rail-access business parks, like the Fremont Inland Port Authority, more feasible, competitive, and attractive to employers. Thank you to Senator Jacobson for his leadership in advancing this important legislation and championing rural economic development across Nebraska.
On Tuesday, the Greater Omaha Chamber opposed LB988, a bill that would greatly restrict the ability for localities to use tax increment financing. The opposition to LB988 was grounded in the important role tax increment financing (TIF) plays in helping Omaha redevelop and grow. Nebraska already operates under one of the most conservative TIF frameworks in the country; limited in duration, requiring a blight finding, and subject to annual reporting and local approval, and Omaha’s latest TIF annual report shows why keeping this tool workable matters.
Today, Omaha has 272 active TIF projects representing roughly $4.3 billion in total investment, with about $373 million in outstanding TIF indebtedness that is repaid solely through the increment generated by those projects. TIF is typically a modest piece of the financing, about 12% of a project’s capital stack, leveraging roughly $8.50 in private or other investment for every $1 of TIF, helping catalyze projects that expand the tax base and revitalize underutilized areas. In 2024 alone, approved TIF projects included over 1,200 housing units (including more than 800 affordable and workforce units), 256 permanent jobs, nearly 1,000 construction jobs, and $386 million in investment supported by $46 million in TIF loans. Our concern is that LB988 would make redevelopment significantly harder by narrowing eligibility and adding uncertainty in ways that could reduce the effectiveness of TIF as a targeted, locally approved tool that drives private investment in older corridors and neighborhoods.
If you’d like to hear more about these bills, and other legislation we are monitoring, our In the Legislative Loop series of Zoom briefing is Monday, February 23 at 11:30 a.m. This members-only, biweekly Zoom call provides a 30-minute update on the latest developments from the State Capitol. It will include behind-the-scenes insights from the session as well as a look ahead at key issues coming before the Legislature. You can sign up for the biweekly series here.
With so much occurring across the various levels of government, now is the perfect time to connect directly with the decisionmakers shaping our state’s future. We invite you to attend our “Politics and Eggs” power breakfast on Monday, March 16 at the Omaha Marriott Regency. Enjoy breakfast while connecting with local, state, and federal elected officials who shape the policies that impact your business and community. This is your chance to hear firsthand from our elected officials about everything happening in the metro, the region, and the state – directly from them in our unique “on the stump” format. You can register for “Politics and Eggs” through this link.
To watch hearings on the bills discussed above—or any legislation—you can view live streams through Nebraska Public Media.
While your Greater Omaha Chamber Public Policy team continues its work at the State Capitol advocating for a stronger business climate and advancing the Omaha COMPETES agenda, we encourage you to share your insights on state legislative priorities at advocacy@omahachamber.org.
Jennifer Creager
Senior Vice President, Public Policy
808 Conagra Dr., Ste. 400, Omaha, NE 68102
Lincoln Office: 402-474-4960
For more information, visit our Public Policy page or contact Jennifer Creager at 402.474.4960.
You can read the Legislature’s Update to learn more about the happenings in Lincoln.