Wolf Pack Sports Foundation’s cheer athletics facility, as envisioned at 202nd Street and Nebraska Highway 370 in Gretna. The City of Gretna is a co-applicant in seeking state assistance through the Sports Arena Facility Financing Assistance Act. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)
LINCOLN — A handful of Nebraskans Wednesday voiced support for, and none opposed, a measure that would diminish Gov. Jim Pillen’s power to stall a state tax incentive aimed at boosting development of sports complexes and arenas.
Legislative Bill 1116, introduced by State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner, calls for reforms to the Sports Arena Facility Financing Assistance Act. A public hearing was held before the Legislature’s Revenue Committee.
Among key changes in the bill:
- The governor no longer must be among the majority of the SAFFAA board that moves a project forward to other necessary hurdles. Rather, all board actions shall be by a majority vote of members present at a meeting. There are five members of the board.
- The board must make a determination on an applicant’s project within 30 days of a public hearing. If no determination is made within that time, the project would be approved. The bill is retroactive to projects that have had public hearings but received no response.
Such changes are pivotal to backers of the sports arena financing act whose applications have stalled, despite having been reviewed by the SAFFAA board and discussed during public hearings months ago…