The Legislature's Revenue Committee has advanced a bill that would provide tax incentives for Nebraska wind farms, drawing the ire of Gov. Dave Heineman.
The
renewable energy bill, which would let certain renewable energy
projects collect refunds on the sales taxes they pay, based on how much
they invest and the level of ownership by Nebraska residents, moved out of the committee on Thursday
with a 5-3 vote.
After the vote, Heineman released a statement saying, "It is very disappointing that
the Legislature's Revenue Committee has decided to provide out-of-state wind
energy developers a tax break, but the Revenue Committee refuses to provide
much-needed tax relief to Nebraska families, Nebraska seniors, Nebraska veterans,
and Nebraska small business owners."
Heineman continued, "The Revenue Committee's priorities are
misguided. Instead of carving out an exemption for out-of-state special
interests, the Legislature should be working to lower the taxes of Nebraskan
citizens who continue to bear the burden for special interest tax breaks."
The governor went on to commend the three committee members that voted against the measure: Sens. Tom Hansen of North Platte,
Charlie Janssen of Fremont, and Beau McCoy of Omaha.
Sens. Galen Hadley of Kearney, Burke
Harr of Omaha, Pete Pirsch of Omaha, Paul Schumacher of Columbus, and Kate
Sullivan of Cedar Rapids voted in favor of advancing the measure.
