Nebraska lawmakers will have options when revamping ‘good life’ law
Nebraska lawmakers will have at least a few bills to consider this year as they work to fix, replace or even eliminate the Good Life Transformational Projects Act, which the state aimed at creating unique, tourist magnet destinations.
One measure, introduced Wednesday by State Senator Beau Ballard of Lincoln, appears to provide another shot for Rod Yates’ mega sports-themed vision surrounding his Nebraska Crossing shopping center in Gretna.
Yates this month moved to terminate his good life district application that had been approved by the state early last year. He did so after reaching an impasse with the City of Gretna, which rejected Yates’ demands as too risky for taxpayers, legally and financially.
Ballard’s Legislative Bill 637, which he named the Destination Nebraska Act, reads much like the original Good Life Act. It does not name Yates, but appears tailored to his ideas. The proposal would give power to an approved district applicant to issue bonds. It would grant the district power and authority similar to an independent village, much like the economic development zones that Walt Disney World uses in central Florida.
No more than two such destination districts could be formed under LB 637, and the price tag of each would have to surpass $3 billion, create jobs and build new-to-market venues and retail that would draw at least 10 million visitors a year to a site spanning up to 5,000 acres.
Details still evolving
Another bill introduced Wednesday, the final day to submit proposed 2025 legislation, is what sponsoring State Senator Brad von Gillern of Omaha called a shell bill – one that lawmakers can use to amend later with a new proposal or pieces of different ones. Legislative Bill 707’s details will be firmed up as the session continues.
Von Gillern, chair of the Revenue Committee, said aspects of the original good life legislation approved in 2023 and revised in 2024 must be fixed. But he and others are still trying to figure out the best way forward, he said.
Tuesday, State Senator Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue introduced Legislative Bill 510 as a “placeholder” to revise aspects of the good life legislation. He said that measure was looking out for the needs of Gretna taxpayers.
Holdcroft said much has changed over the past few weeks regarding the Gretna district, and he expects the language of LB 510 to change substantially.
Final vote count
Official results are in from Gretna’s good life district-related Jan. 14 special election, solidifying a narrow approval, 1,044 votes to 1,029.
The report Wednesday by the Sarpy County Election Commissioner means Gretna can establish an “economic development program” to tap into a Legislature-created public incentive derived from halving the state sales tax within the district. The idea was for the difference to help finance buildout of the unique project site.
The Gretna district’s fate remains unclear, however. Applicant Rod Yates asked to terminate his agreement. The Department of Economic Development, in turn, will decide if the district remains viable. The Legislature, meanwhile, is poised to revise the good life law and incentive.
Among its elements, currently, is language prohibiting a city or village from using eminent domain to acquire property within a good life district for the purpose of giving or selling such property to a private individual or corporation.
That was just one of the sticking points between Gretna and Yates, as Gretna representatives said Yates’ demands would have had them use eminent domain if private property owners did not want to sell, something the city balked at. They said Yates owns just a slice of the approved 2,000-acre district.
Pillen budget in play, too
Also in play with regard to the good life districts is Governor Jim Pillen’s proposed budget, which suggested taking back the annual $5 million in state incentives that the Legislature and governor set aside to help fund development in the good life districts.
Holdcroft and von Gillern said they would like to preserve the good life districts in some way. They expect a unified bill to come forward as lawmakers grapple over the issues.
Ending the good life incentive at this point, as is suggested by Pillen’s budget, would put other approved districts — in the cities of Grand Island, Omaha and Bellevue — in a bind and perhaps open the state to legal problems, Holdroft said. Those cities are farther along in their planning and processes than Gretna.
The good life legislation, as approved in 2023 and updated the next year, called for the state sales tax within the districts to be cut in half from 5.5 percent to 2.75 percent. The idea was for the difference to be recaptured and used to help finance new “transformational” economic developments within the project sites.
But the incentive, particularly as it applied to Gretna, has been controversial.
“I think they will continue,” Holdcroft said. “What we do with the Gretna district is still up in the air.”
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