Bill would make Nebraska a static‑conformity state to limit unvetted federal tax changes
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Summary
LB857 would change Nebraska from rolling to static conformity with the Internal Revenue Code (adopting the IRC as of 01/01/2024), preventing automatic adoption of future federal changes such as HR1 without legislative action; proponents cited state autonomy and fiscal protection, opponents warned of taxpayer and administrative burdens.
Senator George Dungan proposed LB857 to change Nebraska from a rolling conformity state to a static conformity state by fixing the Internal Revenue Code reference to 01/01/2024. Supporters told the committee this would give the legislature control to accept or reject future federal tax changes rather than automatically incorporating them—an approach they argued would protect state revenues from unvetted federal swings, including the recent HR1 provisions that the Department of Revenue says cost Nebraska hundreds of millions.
OpenSky testified in favor, noting static conformity would allow the state to evaluate federal provisions individually. Opponents including CPAs and business‑oriented groups argued static conformity creates uncertainty for tax filing, administrative burdens for preparers and the Department of Revenue, and a larger legislative workload to consider each federal change.
Committee members asked constitutional and delegation‑of‑authority questions about why rolling conformity exists and whether static conformity might be legally more complicated; the sponsor said he would investigate these points. The committee closed the hearing after multiple proponents and opponents spoke.