Adopt the Grow the Good Life Act, provide an income tax credit, change provisions relating to the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act, the ImagiNE Nebraska Act, the Nebraska Advantage Act, and the Site and Building Development Act, and create grant programs to help employers retain or attract employees and to assist cities of the first class impacted by private entity closure or downsizing
LB1165 adopts the “Grow the Good Life Act,” a new Nebraska economic development incentive program aimed at retaining and attracting large employers and their workforce when a company undergoes a merger, acquisition, or other change in ownership or control involving an out-of-state company. The bill creates a wage retention income tax credit for qualifying employers that keep their headquarters in Nebraska and maintain a required level of employment during a ten-year earning period and a ten-year usage period. It also establishes application, approval, recapture, transferability, confidentiality, and reporting rules for the new credit.
The bill also makes extensive changes to existing incentive programs, including the ImagiNE Nebraska Act, the Nebraska Advantage Act, the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act, the Site and Building Development Act, and related tax credit and refund provisions. It adds or revises definitions, eligibility thresholds, timelines, and credit/refund formulas for certain projects, including data centers, large employers, and projects in economically distressed areas. In addition, it creates a Department of Labor grant program to support workforce retention and attraction after ownership changes, and it expands Site and Building Development Act assistance for industrial sites, military-related projects, inland ports, and certain city and infrastructure projects.
LB1165 would amend multiple sections of Nebraska tax and economic development law, creating a new income tax credit and modifying existing sales tax, property tax, and incentive provisions across several statutes. It would authorize the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Revenue to administer the new Grow the Good Life Act and related changes, require annual reporting to the Legislature, and establish a new cash fund for ImagiNE Nebraska administration. The bill also changes operative dates and transition rules for applications and agreements under the affected incentive programs, and it repeals certain original sections while preserving severability and emergency-effect provisions.
The voting history suggests the bill was generally supported by a legislative majority, with the main package and final reading passing by substantial margins. Several amendments and motions offered by Senator Conrad failed, indicating that there was organized opposition or at least significant concern about aspects of the bill, but those efforts did not prevail. The final passage with an emergency clause, along with the adoption of a later amendment, suggests the bill was viewed as important and time-sensitive by its supporters.
The main points of contention appear to have centered on the scope, structure, and fiscal exposure of the incentive package, especially the new wage retention credit and the bill’s expansion of state assistance for large employers and development projects. The failed Conrad amendments and motions indicate attempts to alter or limit the bill, though the record provided does not specify the exact objections. Likely areas of debate include whether the state should offer substantial tax credits and grants to large companies after ownership changes, how much public reporting and oversight should be required, and whether the benefits are sufficiently targeted to justify the cost.