Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen continues to give signals he is serious about his quest to overhaul the property tax system in the state.
Pillen this week told Nebraska state legislators to block out July 26 to August 15 as possible dates for holding a special session to work on property taxes.
Pillen has been frustrated that the regular session resulted in no tax changes. At the beginning of 2024, he proposed that the amount of property taxes collected across the state of Nebraska be slashed by 40 percent, from an all-time high of $5 billion dollars in 2022 down to $3 billion.
If Pillen decides to call a special session, in addition to the specific dates it will take place, he will also need to specify the agenda of topics. Pillen spoke in South Sioux City on the property tax situation in a Tuesday stop.
*Additionally, recent heavy rains continue to create problems in the tri-state region. A water quality advocacy group said that although South Dakota’s high precipitation is good to combat drought, it is also having a negative impact on the Big Sioux River.
The Friends of the Big Sioux River released a report saying parts of the Big Sioux River have “exceedingly high” levels of E. coli in the water. The area of highest concentration starts in Sioux Falls and continues all the way down to the Missouri River. The Big Sioux River forms much of the South Dakota-Iowa border down to Sioux City.
E. coli is a bacterium that exists in human and other animal feces. In urban areas of South Dakota, everything that enters storm drains often ends up in the Big Sioux River unfiltered.
Travis Entenman, the director of the Friends of the Big Sioux River, said higher levels of the bacteria is common when rainfall increases.
“What is occurring there, with all of the rain we’ve been getting, there is more runoff entering our water bodies. So, rain that’s flown over land, farm fields or urban streets, things like that. And that’s pulling up any excess nutrients on the land and pulling it into the river,” Entenman said.
*Additionally in South Dakota, the organization behind a constitutional amendment to legalize abortion in South Dakota has asked a federal judge to prevent an anti-abortion group from pursuing action against the ballot measure in state court.
Dakotans for Health, which sponsored the Amendment G petition drive, filed a motion Tuesday to enforce a 2023 permanent injunction that it says invalidates a lawsuit filed June 13 in Minnehaha County by the Life Defense Fund, which has actively opposed the abortion measure.
The South Dakota Secretary of State office in May certified the measure to be on ballots on the November 5 election as Amendment G, South Dakota News Watch reported.
Constitutional Amendment G would prohibit the state from imposing an abortion ban in the first two trimesters, while allowing for life and health of the mother protections in the third.
Life Defense Fund is also asking the court to declare Dakotans for Health, and those who worked with the group, be prohibited from being sponsors or circulators for any ballot question committee for four years.
*In other news, following some repairs, new permanent crossovers, and traffic control modifications, two-way traffic was restored along the Gordon Drive viaduct in Sioux City on Tuesday.
The Iowa Department of Transportation reported that all four lanes are not open, but one side of the viaduct is. The westbound lanes of Gordon Drive along the viaduct were closed on May 21 after some concerning maintenance findings by crews.
The viaduct bridge continues to have a vehicle weight restriction in place for both east- and westbound traffic.
