LINCOLN- Top state senators say they feel comfortable with the level of state reserves they left behind in 2024 and beyond after carefully considering spending requests during this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers are statutorily required to have a balanced budget and are projected to end the next fiscal year, on June 30, 2025, with more than $500 million in the state’s cash reserves, or 4.5%, above the desired minimum amount.

The state is projected in the following biennium to end about $50 million under that minimum reserve. These figures could change when actual revenues come in. They also don’t account for any special sessions, such as one anticipated in late July on property taxes. State Sen. Robert Clements, who chairs the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, said the $50 million shortfall by June 30, 2027, is an “acceptable number” and remains in an adequate range.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who chairs the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, said economic forecasts are too conservative, so the state could be in a better position than estimates show. She said she also doesn’t see state revenues declining or remaining flat. Linehan and Clements said that there is no recession and that Nebraska’s fiscal health is secure.

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