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LEGISLATIVE BILL 852
Approved by the Governor April 14, 2026
Introduced by Spivey, 13; McKinney, 11.
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Convention Center Facility Financing
Assistance Act; to amend section 13-2610, Revised Statutes Supplement,
2025; to provide for the recapture of funding distributed from the
Convention Center Support Fund to certain recipients; to provide an
operative date; and to repeal the original section.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
Section 1. Section 13-2610, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025, is amended
to read:
13-2610 (1) Upon the annual certification under section 13-2609, the State
Treasurer shall transfer after the audit the amount certified to the Convention
Center Support Fund. The Convention Center Support Fund is created. Transfers
may be made from the fund to the General Fund at the direction of the
Legislature. Any money in the Convention Center Support Fund available for
investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the
Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.
(2)(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate from the fund to
any political subdivision for which an application for state assistance under
the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act has been approved (i)
an annual amount not to exceed seventy percent of the state sales tax revenue
collected by retailers and operators doing business at such facilities on sales
at such facilities, state sales tax revenue collected on primary and secondary
box office sales of admissions to such facilities, and state sales tax revenue
collected by associated hotels and nearby retailers and (ii) an aggregate
amount of not more than the maximum aggregate appropriation. State assistance
shall not be used for an operating subsidy.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature to appropriate from the
fund to any city of the metropolitan class for which an application for state
assistance under the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act has
been approved an amount not to exceed the amount of money transferred to the
fund pursuant to subdivision (9)(a) of section 13-3108.
(3)(a) Ten percent of the funds appropriated to a city of the metropolitan
class under subdivision (2)(a) of this section and all of the funds
appropriated to a city of the metropolitan class under subdivision (2)(b) of
this section shall be equally distributed to areas with a high concentration of
poverty. Fifty-five percent of such funds shall be used to showcase important
historical aspects of such areas or areas within close geographic proximity of
the area with a high concentration of poverty and to assist with the reduction
of street and gang violence in such areas. Forty-five percent of such funds
shall be used to assist with small business and entrepreneurship growth in such
areas.
(b) Each area with a high concentration of poverty that has been
distributed funds under subdivision (3)(a) of this section shall establish a
development fund and form a committee which shall identify and research
potential projects to be completed in the area with a high concentration of
poverty or in an area within close geographic proximity of such area if the
project would have a significant or demonstrable impact on such area and make
final determinations on the use of the funds received for such projects.
(c) A committee formed under subdivision (3)(b) of this section shall
include the following members:
(i) The member of the city council whose district includes a majority of
the census tracts which each contain a percentage of persons below the poverty
line of greater than thirty percent, as determined by the most recent American
Community Survey 5-Year Estimate, within the area with a high concentration of
poverty;
(ii) The commissioner of the county whose district includes a majority of
the census tracts which each contain a percentage of persons below the poverty
line of greater than thirty percent, as determined by the most recent American
Community Survey 5-Year Estimate, within the area with a high concentration of
poverty;
(iii) Two residents of the area with a high concentration of poverty,
appointed by the two members of the committee described in subdivisions (3)(c)
(i) and (ii) of this section. Such resident members shall be appointed for
four-year terms. Each time a resident member is to be appointed pursuant to
this subdivision, the committee shall solicit applications from interested
individuals by posting notice of the open position on the city's website and on
the city's official social media accounts, if any, and by publishing the notice
in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation in the area with a high
concentration of poverty. Applications may be submitted to either of the
committee members described in subdivisions (3)(c)(i) and (ii) of this section.
Prior to making any appointment, the committee shall hold a public hearing in
the area with a high concentration of poverty. Notice of the hearing shall be
provided, at least seven days prior to the hearing, by posting the notice on
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the city's website and on the city's official social media accounts, if any,
and by publishing the notice in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation
in the area with a high concentration of poverty; and
(iv) The member of the Legislature whose district includes a majority of
the census tracts which each contain a percentage of persons below the poverty
line of greater than thirty percent, as determined by the most recent American
Community Survey 5-Year Estimate, within the area with a high concentration of
poverty. The member described in this subdivision shall be a nonvoting member
of the committee.
(d) A committee formed under subdivision (3)(b) of this section shall
solicit project ideas from the public and shall hold a public hearing in the
area with a high concentration of poverty. Notice of a proposed hearing shall
be provided in accordance with the procedures for notice of a public hearing
pursuant to section 18-2115.01. The committee shall research potential projects
and make the final determination regarding the annual distribution of funding
to such projects.
(e) For any committee formed under subdivision (3)(b) of this section:
(i) The two committee members described in subdivisions (3)(c)(i) and (ii)
of this section shall share joint responsibility of all committee operations
and meetings. Applications for funding may be submitted to either of such
members; and
(ii) All applications, reports, and other records of the committee shall
be accessible to any member of the committee.
(f) Each recipient of funding from a committee formed under subdivision
(3)(b) of this section shall submit an itemized report to such committee on the
use of such funds. A recipient shall not be eligible to receive funding for
more than three consecutive years unless such recipient is able to justify
continued funding based on the following criteria:
(i) The number of people served by the project;
(ii) The relevance and scale of the project;
(iii) The desirability of the social or environmental outcomes of the
project and how such outcomes will be achievable and measurable;
(iv) The economic impact on the area with a high concentration of poverty;
and
(v) The recipient's sustainability plan.
(g)(i) Each recipient of funding from a committee formed under subdivision
(3)(b) of this section shall maintain its principal place of business or
primary operations within the area with a high concentration of poverty for a
period of not less than three years following the receipt of such funding.
(ii) If an entity fails to maintain its principal place of business or
primary operations within the area with a high concentration of poverty for the
three-year period required under subdivision (3)(g)(i) of this section, the
county in which the recipient is located may recapture the funding received by
the recipient.
(iii) The amount of funding subject to recapture shall be determined on a
pro rata basis based on the portion of the three-year period during which the
recipient failed to remain in compliance with subdivision (3)(g)(i) of this
section.
(iv) Any funding recaptured by a county pursuant to this subdivision (3)
(g) shall be returned to the Convention Center Support Fund or to an applicable
development fund administered by the county, as determined by the county.
(v) A county may, by resolution, establish policies, procedures, and
contractual conditions necessary to enforce this subdivision (3)(g), including
notice requirements, repayment schedules, and documentation standards.
(vi) The recapture of funding pursuant to this subdivision (3)(g) shall be
in addition to and shall not preempt any other remedies available to a county
under law or contract.
(h) (g) On or before July 1, 2022, and on or before July 1 of each year
thereafter, a committee formed under subdivision (3)(b) of this section shall
electronically submit a report to the Legislature which includes:
(i) A description of the projects that were funded during the most
recently completed calendar year;
(ii) A description of where such projects were located;
(iii) A description of the outcomes of such projects; and
(iv) A ten-year strategic plan on how the committee plans to meet the
goals described in subdivision (3)(a) of this section.
(i) (h) For purposes of this subsection, an area with a high concentration
of poverty means an area within the corporate limits of a city of the
metropolitan class consisting of one or more contiguous census tracts, as
determined by the most recent American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate, which
contain a percentage of persons below the poverty line of greater than thirty
percent, and all census tracts contiguous to such tract or tracts.
(4)(a) Ten percent of the funds appropriated to a city of the primary
class under subdivision (2)(a) of this section may, if the city determines by
consent of the city council that such funds are not currently needed for the
purposes described in section 13-2604, be used as follows:
(i) For investment in the construction of qualified low-income housing
projects as defined in 26 U.S.C. 42, including qualified projects receiving
Nebraska affordable housing tax credits under the Affordable Housing Tax Credit
Act; or
(ii) If there are no such qualified low-income housing projects as defined
in 26 U.S.C. 42 being constructed or expected to be constructed within the
political subdivision, for investment in areas with a high concentration of
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poverty to assist with low-income housing needs.
(b) For purposes of this subsection, an area with a high concentration of
poverty means an area within the corporate limits of a city of the primary
class consisting of one or more contiguous census tracts, as determined by the
most recent American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate, which contain a
percentage of persons below the poverty line of greater than thirty percent,
and all census tracts contiguous to such tract or tracts, as determined by the
most recent American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate.
(5) State assistance to the political subdivision shall no longer be
available (a) upon the retirement of the bonds issued to acquire, construct,
improve, repair, replace, or equip all of the political subdivision's
facilities approved for state assistance under the Convention Center Facility
Financing Assistance Act or any subsequent bonds that refunded the original
issue or (b) when state assistance reaches the amount determined under
subdivision (2)(a) of this section, whichever comes first.
(6) The remaining thirty percent of state sales tax revenue collected by
retailers and operators doing business at such facilities on sales at such
facilities, state sales tax revenue collected on primary and secondary box
office sales of admissions to such facilities, and state sales tax revenue
collected by associated hotels and nearby retailers, shall be appropriated by
the Legislature to the Civic and Community Center Financing Fund. Upon the
annual certification required pursuant to section 13-2609 and following the
transfer to the Convention Center Support Fund required pursuant to subsection
(1) of this section, the State Treasurer shall transfer an amount equal to the
remaining thirty percent from the Convention Center Support Fund to the Civic
and Community Center Financing Fund.
(7) Any municipality that has applied for and received a grant of
assistance under the Civic and Community Center Financing Act may not receive
state assistance under the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act.
Sec. 2. This act becomes operative on January 1, 2027.
Sec. 3. Original section 13-2610, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2025, is
repealed.
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