Bill Was Top Priority Under Chamber’s State Opportunities Agenda
A new bill that makes updates to the state’s top incentive program was recently approved by the Nebraska Unicameral and signed by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.
LB 164 provides for changes to the Nebraska Advantage and Nebraska Super Advantage. The bill was a top priority for the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce under its State Opportunities Agenda and according to Bruce Bohrer, Executive Vice President of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, makes changes that will provide job growth opportunities for several Lincoln businesses. The bill was signed into law in April.
The bill will extend several key economic development programs through 2015, including the Agricultural Opportunities and Value-Added Grant Program; Building Entrepreneurial Communities Grant Program; Nebraska Advantage (Tiers 1 and 3); Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise; and Nebraska Advantage Research and Development Tax Credit. LB 164 also makes several enhancements to the tax incentive programs, such as providing greater flexibility amending applications to a lower tier, updated qualified business definitions, as well as project investment threshold determinations and adjustments that are more reflective of a longer term economic view.
“At this critical time, LB 164 helps improve our state’s economic development climate,” Bohrer said.
Gov. Heineman and representatives from the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, State Chamber, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and Nebraska Departments of Economic Development and Revenue partnered on the bill’s passage and gathered recently for a signing ceremony for LB 164.