Change provisions of the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act and the Nebraska Visitors Development Act
Summary
LB116 revises Nebraska’s Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act and Nebraska Visitors Development Act. The bill updates definitions and procedures for state assistance to convention center projects, including terms such as eligible facility, associated hotel, nearby retailer, nearby parking facility, and sports arena facility. It also changes application requirements, clarifies how project areas are mapped and approved, and sets rules for how state assistance may be used and when it ends.
The bill also restructures the flow of certain sales tax revenues tied to convention center facilities. It creates a Convention Center Support Fund, directs a portion of related sales tax revenue into that fund, and provides for transfers to the General Fund and to the Civic and Community Center Financing Fund under specified conditions. In addition, LB116 revises county visitor promotion and improvement provisions, including the creation and administration of county visitors promotion and improvement funds, advisory committees, grant procedures, and allowable uses for tourism-related facilities and attractions.
Impact
LB116 affects state revenue allocation and local development financing statutes by amending and reissuing portions of Nebraska law governing convention center assistance and visitor/tourism funding. It changes how political subdivisions apply for and receive state assistance, how project boundaries are defined, and how sales tax revenues associated with eligible facilities are distributed among state funds. It also modifies county-level authority to levy and use visitor-related taxes for promotion, improvement, and grants to visitor attractions, while preserving limits on debt and public liability.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have had broadly favorable support in the Legislature. It advanced and passed with strong vote margins at each stage, including unanimous votes on two amendments and a 43-2 final reading vote, and it was ultimately approved by the Governor. The voting pattern suggests general agreement on the need to update tourism and convention-center financing mechanisms, though not complete unanimity.
Contention
The main points of contention appear to have centered on the scope and structure of state support for convention center projects, including how much revenue should be diverted, which facilities qualify, and how project areas are defined and approved. The bill also includes targeted provisions for metropolitan-class cities and high-poverty areas, such as directing portions of funds toward neighborhood investment, housing, small business, and violence reduction, which may have raised policy questions about distribution and priorities. The near-unanimous votes indicate these issues were not highly divisive, but the small number of no votes on final passage suggests some limited disagreement remained.