Nebraska may lose $250 million unless it decouples from CARES Act

Those tax changes provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act would include $230 million in reduced business taxes, the study concluded.

That revenue loss would come on top of other revenue reductions resulting from the pandemic, which are estimated to be between 10% and 25% of anticipated state revenues, OpenSky stated.

And that, in turn, would force cuts to vital state services, the analysis concluded.

At a time when Nebraskans are calling for additional property tax decreases and when the Legislature is considering enactment of "a large business incentive package," a $230 million business tax cut now is "questionable at best," said Renee Fry, executive director of OpenSky.

"Nebraska lawmakers could put the brakes on the tax cut by decoupling from the CARES Act tax changes, as states such as North Carolina, Georgia and Colorado are looking to do," she said.

"The pandemic is placing tremendous economic pressure on Nebraskans, as well as on our policymakers," Fry said.  

"Decoupling from the CARES Act changes would provide state leaders with needed flexibility in their efforts to help our state recover from this unprecedented challenge."