Sen. Brewer: LB 583 - funding for K-12 grade education

Since first coming to the Legislature in 2017, every single year there are a number of bills introduced that are designed to reform how Nebraska funds K-12 public schools. The property tax “package” of bills this year includes LB 243, LB 242, LB 754, LB 28, LB 309, LB 589, LB 783 and LB 583. This is an important subject because how we fund our schools is why Nebraska has some of the highest property taxes in the nation. The Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA) is how we do it in Nebraska. This law results in only about a quarter of our schools getting money from the state, and is badly in need of reform. There are schools in my district that are over 70 percent funded with only property taxes.

I want to talk about one of those bills in the package. This session my colleague Senator Rita Sanders from Bellevue introduced LB 583 on behalf of the Governor. This bill is the operational part of Governor Pillen’s historic investment in kindergarten through twelfth grade public education in the State of Nebraska. LB 583 will increase the money provided by the legislature for all two hundred forty-four (244) school districts across the state.

Since TEEOSA was first created by LB 1059 in 1990, every single year since then this body has been trying to reform it. The Legislature has spent countless hours looking at a multitude of different ways to reduce our over-reliance on property taxes to fund Nebraska’s public schools. The education community has come to us year after year concerned that Nebraska ranks 49th in the country in terms of state funding for public schools. LB 583 will change that. This bill would be the largest increase of state aid for public education in Nebraska history when passed by the Legislature.

LB 583 has a number of pieces to it. The first is special education funding. It will ensure that schools are provided eighty percent (80%) of their special education funding needs provided by the state. These costs are mandated by state law, yet school districts have been forced to raise property taxes to pay for it. For far too long, special education needs have not been funded by the legislature.

Another piece is called “Foundation Aid.” Under this proposal, school districts will receive fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) of funding for each student enrolled in the school. The state of Nebraska will provide a guaranteed amount of aid for each student in the state. Each and every student will be invested in by the state. This is another huge leap forward for Nebraska’s public education system.

The bill also implements a reporting requirement by the school districts to the Legislature. This allows the Legislature to analyze whether schools are providing taxpayers property tax relief with the new state aid.

LB 583 was advanced by the Education Committee with support from across the political spectrum. The bill was supported by quite a number of organizations, including the Nebraska Cattlemen, the Nebraska Association of School Boards, ARC of Nebraska, the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, Americans for Prosperity, Nebraska Rural Community Schools Association and many more. I look forward to supporting this long over-due bill all the way to the Governor’s desk.

Please contact my office with any comments, questions or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, nail a letter to; Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509 or call 402-471-2628.