LINCOLN - State Sen. Julie Slama highlighted economic development for small communities, workforce housing and historic tax credits in her latest legislative column.

Sen. Slama says her tour of every community in the First District this summer inspired her to propose the economic development bill LB 213.

She said small towns have motivated people who want to see the town prosper, but existing economic development programs are geared toward larger cities in rural areas with a full-time economic development director.

She proposes help for smaller communities that are constantly left out because they don’t have private money for matching funds or they can’t take time off their full-time job to work on an application that is most likely going to a larger town anyway.

Here is the senator’s column on growing rural Nebraska

On January 4th, the 108th Nebraska Legislature convened for its first regular session. This legislative session is in full swing, and we are nearly through the bill introduction period!

One of my bills introduced this session is LB 213, a major economic development bill for District 1 and all of rural Nebraska. This bill targets villages and cities of the second class, which include any community or city under 5,000 residents. This bill makes 2 changes: lowers the match from .5:1 to .25:1 for Rural Workforce Housing and expands the Mainstreet Revitalization Act specifically for communities under 5,000 residents. 

Rural Workforce Housing provides grants for the construction of workforce housing. Right now, RWHF grants require 50% of the RWHF award in matching funds such as dollars contributed by individuals, businesses, political subdivisions, etc. into a single investment fund administered by the eligible nonprofit development organization. With this change, this match would be lowered to 25% for communities under 5,000 residents. With this bill, Nebraskans in smaller rural communities will be put on a more level playing field with the larger communities that are able to reach the percentage of matching funds easier. 

Additionally, the Nebraska Job Creation and Mainstreet Revitalization Act, which without the passage of LB 213, this program would cease to exist this year. LB 213 would create a credit against Nebraska income tax for investment in the rehabilitation of historic buildings or buildings that contribute to a historic district. State historic tax credits have been shown to be effective at promoting both economic growth and historic preservation in small communities. Such credits are available in more than 30 states, most notably in the states bordering Nebraska.

Both parts of LB 213 were inspired by my summer tour of every community in District 1. Every village and town had at least a handful of highly-motivated people who wanted to grow and improve their hometown. I pointed them toward our current rural development programs, but these programs are built to serve larger cities in rural areas with a full-time economic development director and strong private investment. Our smallest towns most in need of these programs are constantly left out because they don’t have the private money for a match or they can’t take time off their full-time job for an application that is going to a larger town anyway. I’m working to fix this with LB 213.

As your State Senator, I am committed to crafting and supporting bills that help promote the economic development of rural communities in Southeast Nebraska. With this said, I am also working on crafting legislation that seeks to address rural clean water accessibility and cut more unfunded mandates. Stay tuned!

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: [email protected].