Senator Brandt Gives Legislative Update

By Gordon HopkinsNebraska Senator Tom Brandt (District 32) attended the annual Fairbury Rural Fire Department banquet on Friday, March 6, 2026. He took the opportunity to give those in attendance an update on legislative activities.The 109th Nebraska Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on April 17, 2026.Budget ShortfallThere is a budget shortfall, making it unlikely that any bill that costs money will pass.“We’ve got no money. So, literally, any bill that has a fiscal number is dead. All the bills we’ve passed so far have got no fiscal number,” said Brandt, adding, “And we’re still looking for $125 million as of this morning. That is a moving target.”Brandt explained, “We’ve been reducing the state income tax. State gets money from two different sources, income and sales tax, and by this time next year, we will have reduced the state income tax 27 percent. That’s great for everybody that needs it, but it kind of puts a bind upon state operations.”EthanolBrandt noted the importance of ethanol to Nebraska’s economy, “I have introduced a bill (LB815) to expand the ethanol board. Right now, ethanol in the state of Nebraska is $7 billion. The Union Pacific in Burlington in Nebraska is only $6.5 billion that’s the effect that ethanol has on the state of Nebraska. And so, what this bill will do, it will modify the board to get more producers on that board.”The bill is intended to strengthen the board’s engagement with the promotion and development of products derived from ethanol and ethanol coproducts, such as sustainable aviation fuel. It also establishes a one-quarter of one cent per gallon ($0.0025) excise tax on dyed diesel fuel. Revenue generated from this excise tax is intended to replace declining refund-based funding mechanisms and support the ongoing work of the Nebraska Ethanol Board.EnergySenator Brandt is chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which has oversight over electricity production.“We’ve had nine bills about electricity this year. We’ve got two big ones coming up next week. One of those is mine, which is LB1010, and that will put guardrails on batteries that are built in the state of Nebraska,” said Brandt. “These batteries would be placed next to high voltage power lines or lithium-ion batteries, and they do catch fire, and we are very conscious of that.”The senator also addressed the increased need for power created by data centers.“We also want to protect public power in the state of Nebraska. There’s two million people in the state of Nebraska. We’re 100 percent public power. You are all owners of the public power system in the state of Nebraska. It’s all under local control,” said Brandt. “Nebraska is number one in reliability out of all 50 states. We have the fourth lowest electrical cost in the United States. And to put this in perspective, Omaha is the 14th largest city for data centers. It’s not the 14th largest city in the nation. The reason for that is we have cheap, reliable power. These data centers are flocking to Nebraska trying to take advantage of our electricity. We want to put these guardrails up, and these batteries are going to help. But if a private company wants to build a battery, they’re going to have to sell the electricity to our public power system. They can’t just put these things up willy-nilly.”Brandt added, “The other bill that’s going to be coming up is 1261. This is what the governor wants to allow private companies to build power plants in the state of Nebraska, and that’s also for these data centers.”Brandt pointed out that a major user of electricity is Artificial Intelligence (AI).“A data center before AI used one tenth the power of a data center that uses AI,” said Brandt. “Right now, these data centers are trying to build anywhere they can find. They’re resurrecting old coal plants. They’re resurrecting old nuclear plants. They’re looking for batteries. They’re looking for generation.”Bridge MatchThe County bridge Match Program is seen by county officials as essential for improving public safety and ensuring reliable transportation for goods and services, especially in Southeast Nebraska, where a great of the state’s bridges are located. Without it, counties that cannot afford to repair bridges will either have to close those bridges or raise property taxes to pay for repairs.Brandt said, “That money is running out from the traditional source. I’m working with NACO (Nebraska Association of County Officials) on that, and we’re trying to get at least $5 million by the end of this month.”“I know Jefferson County has used it extensively,” said Brandt. “It’s unbelievable what bridges cost.”

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