Nebraska

CHICAGO — Nebraska voters in Tuesday’s primary green-lighted several borrowing requests and a constitutional amendment that will allow local governments to issue tax-exempt debt on behalf of nonprofit organizations.

CHICAGO — Nebraska voters on May 11 will decide whether to expand state law to allow cities, counties, and villages to issue tax-exempt debt on behalf of nonprofit organizations for capital projects.

A bill that would have paved the way for Nebraska cities to create separate political subdivisions to issue bonds and impose new taxes appeared dead for the year after lawmakers sent it back to committee Monday.

CHICAGO — Douglas County School District 1, Nebraska’s largest school system, will enter the market this week with $89.5 million of refunding bonds.

CHICAGO — Lincoln, Neb., would partner with the University of Nebraska to build a $344 million arena on a stretch of blighted rail yard west of downtown under a plan that will go before the city’s voters in May.

WASHINGTON — The Nebraska Supreme Court last week dismissed a lawsuit brought by Falls City against the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool and three of its staff members.

A handful of Midwestern state housing authorities, most of them shut out of the credit market this year, are acting to take advantage of the U.S. government's temporary new-issue bond program to jump-start their ability to provide new mortgages.

CHICAGO — The economies of Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas have emerged as some of the healthiest in the U.S., enjoying a rare stability anchored by strong commodity prices while largely escaping the strains posed in other states by the housing market’s collapse and high unemployment.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman called lawmakers back to Lincoln for a special session starting today to tackle the state’s anticipated $334 million shortfall over the 2009-2011 biennium. He also unveiled his own proposals to close the gap.