LINCOLN- Despite optimistic predictions for the state's economic future, Nebraska's tax revenues continue to fall below projections, according to the Nebraska Department of Revenue, which produced data indicating a $53 million shortfall from October 2022 to May 2023. Despite this, Sens. Lou Ann Linehan and Robert Clements, Chairs of the Legislature's Revenue and Appropriations Committees respectively, aren't concerned.

In fact, Clements argued that the shortfall will be "easily absorbed" by around $70 million left unspent this year by the legislature. Sen. Linehan echoed a very similar sentiment. "If there's a squeeze on our economy, I'm not seeing it," she said. However, in May alone, Nebraska's next tax receipts were 8.7% below the original forecast, with corporate income tax down 226.5% and tax refunds up a staggering 29.5%, from a projected $152 million to $197 million.

Although slight changes were made to the Revenue Committee's forecast prior to the finalization of the Legislature's two-year budget, neither Clements nor Linehan believes any new information would have changed how the recently-passed budget turned out, even if the most recent shortfall was observed earlier. "We're not teetering on the edge here," said Linehan, adding that income revenues will stabilize in the near future as a result of events like the College World Series.

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