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LINCOLN — If you want to rile things up at the State Capitol, propose elimination of long-held sales tax exemptions.
That’s been true in the past, particularly in 2009, when lobbyists lined up until midnight to testify against long-held tax breaks on all kinds of things, from car repairs and home remodeling to groceries and lawyer bills.
It worked: State lawmakers backed off, and more tax exemptions have been passed since.
This year, a new round of opposition is stirring over Gov. Jim Pillen’s call to eliminate sales tax exemptions, and possibly increase the state sales tax by 1 cent, to shift an additional $1 billion in taxes off property and onto state income and sales tax.
Proposals range from taxing soda pop and candy to imposing new taxes on data centers and dry cleaning bills.
There’s also grumbling about the governor’s proposal to sweep $274 million from excess cash reserves — built up by things like fees on hunters, telephone bills and probationers — to aid his ambitious goal of reducing property taxes by 40%.