More new wrinkles arrived on the national scene last weekend when President Joe Biden stepped away from his re-election campaign and endorsed VP Kamala Harris as his choice for the Democratic presidential nominee.

We’re learning plenty about that in the state and national news.

At the same time, we have an important week coming up in Nebraska with a special session of the Legislature to convene Thursday, July 25.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is launching his effort to cut property taxes by 50 percent statewide, and he is calling on the Legislature to follow his lead.

The governor says property tax collections by local governments are “spiraling out of control” and could soon reach $1 million per day. Total property taxes collected annually in Nebraska reached beyond $5.3 billion in 2023.

Yes, the trend line shows a definite increase in total property tax collections over the past decade, The total increase is 56 percent from 2013 to 2023.

The governor cites “excessive spending by local governments” as the root cause.

Interestingly, he doesn’t cite inflation as a root cause, but I believe local governments would cite cost inflation as a primary reason for property tax increases.

Gov. Pillen cites the three main sources of taxation in Nebraska property, income and sales taxes. He wants to eliminate loopholes (especially those involving sales tax exemptions), along with reductions in state and local spending, to allow the state to fully fund K-12 instruction at $2.6 billion.

This is a tall order, but the plan is relatively simple. He wants the state to cover the instructional budgets of all public schools, while local taxpayers cover buildings and any physical assets.

So, under the plan, there would be a “hard cap” on property tax collections for all local governments, and state spending would also be reduced by $360 million. The hard cap in Pillen’s plan would be tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The plan does get a bit more complicated from there. It includes exemptions from the hard cap for public safety and law enforcement spending, and for growth in new buildings or improvements.

For schools, three property tax programs would remain in place -- voter approved bond taxes, special building taxes, and a Qualified Capital Purpose Undertaking (QCPUF) tax.

Aside from the allowed exemptions, only a vote of the people would override the hard caps.

As proposed, elimination of the general fund levy for school taxes would be phased in over three years, reaching zero by 2026. The plan also includes “retooling” of the existing property tax credit programs for school taxes, because over half of Nebraskans didn’t claim these benefits in 2022. The “front loading” of these credits would ensure all Nebraska taxpayers get this relief.

Maybe one of the more controversial parts of the plan is to eliminate some 114 tax exemptions of various types. The governor estimates this would produce $950 million in property tax relief.

One key part of the plan is the assurance that “no school district will go backwards in funding.” In other words, if the state fails to meet its funding obligation to a district, that district would be able to levy property tax to make up the difference.

There are many more details and some complicating factors as this special session begins. While the state’s net tax receipts were near projections this fiscal year, the state’s cash funds have declined due to previous commitments.

Particulars of this plan -- like eliminating 114 tax exemptions -- won’t be easy to accomplish as it moves through the special session.

“Particulars of this plan -- like eliminating 114 tax exemptions won’t be easy to accomplish.”