field notes NEBRASKA
MARK OTHMER, Nebraska Field Director [
marko@ineda.com]
NEBRASKA NOTES
I’m sure everyone was happy when the November elections came and went. Advertising on television and radio finally returned to normal and the constant harping of who will represent you best was finally over. Now the real work begins and elected officials will have to prove they deserved the votes.
This election once again demonstrated how intelligent the framers of our constitution were when they agreed on a representative republic government and setting up a two house legislature. Our nation has proven time and time again that they do not want one political party controlling both legislative houses and the administration for very long. With Democrats regaining control of the house and Republicans increasing their margin in the senate, checks and balances on the administration will be at its best. No party will have an advantage and hopefully negotiation and compromise will once again rule the day in federal legislation.
Nebraska Election Recap
In Nebraska, much of the same happened. Even though the Unicameral is billed as non-partisan, everyone knows that political parties still exist inside the Nebraska legislature. While this election helped bring a closer balance between the parties, Republicans still hold the majority. I think voters made an effort to re- mind the governor that while he has tremendous influence on legislative matters, he should not be involved in legislative district races. Most of the candidates he promoted and supported financially were disposed of in the primaries and general elections. The governor will have to accept that voters decide who represents them, not the administration.
The state election results make any kind of tax reduction very hard to achieve. Voters decided by a ballot initiative that Medicaid will be expanded in Nebraska. While no one knows the exact cost of this expan- sion, it will obviously take up a large portion of any extra revenue that has been generated by an improving economy this past year. The governor and many senators still want to address personal property taxes at the local level. However, the only way to accomplish lower property taxes now rests in reduced spending or a shift in funding local services to other taxes. Square in the cross-hairs of any shift in taxes is expanded sales tax. Sales tax rates may increase or exemptions may be eliminated. We are still waiting to see how this collection of sales tax on sales into Nebraska by out-of-state retailers may affect revenues. Unfor- tunately, the voter initiative to expand Medicaid has put the cart before the horse, demanding spending before revenues are available.
“Having To” vs. “Wanting To” Replace Equipment
Harvest pretty well wrapped up across the state in early November. Reports are that farmers were a bit disappointed in yields, not seeing quite what they expected. All was not lost, though, as expectations were very high. Irrigated soybean yields were still in the high 60 to 70 bushels per acre. Some dryland yields were actually better than irrigated. Sometimes Mother Nature does a better job than any pivot system ever could. Also, dryland corn yields were well above average even though irrigated corn was average at best. There will still be plenty of bushels to help fuel some after harvest sales, but just how many sales remains to be seen. Dealers have told me that high dollar machines are still not selling great, but the point of “hav- ing to” replace machines versus “wanting to” has arrived. Any more delays by farmers will start a down- ward spiral on the value of their trade-in machines.
4 | The Retailer Magazine | Jan/Feb
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33
