Nebraska

Nebraska

Budget Links 

FY2026-FY2027 (enacted)
FY2026-FY2027 (proposed)
FY2024-FY2025 budget adjustments (enacted)
FY2024-FY2025 (enacted)
FY2022-2023 budget adjustments (enacted)
FY2022-2023 (enacted)
FY2020-2021 (enacted)

Enacted Budget – Fiscal Years 2026-2027

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed the state’s fiscal 2026-2027 biennial budget bill on May 21. The two-year budget calls for $19.69 billion in total spending in fiscal 2026 (a 5.1 percent increase from fiscal 2025) and $19.45 billion in total spending in fiscal 2027 (a 1.2 percent decrease from fiscal 2026). General fund spending is estimated at $5.54 billion in fiscal 2026 (a 1.1 percent increase from fiscal 2025) and $5.57 billion in fiscal 2027 (a 0.7 percent increase from fiscal 2026). General fund revenues are projected at $6.96 billion for fiscal 2026 and $7.03 billion in fiscal 2027. The budget projects an ending general fund reserve balance of $205 million and a cash reserve fund balance of $921 million at the end of the biennium.

Governor Pillen noted that the budget is fiscally conservative, solves the $432 million reported shortfall and honors the state’s commitment to tax relief for all Nebraskans. The budget makes investments in education, developmental disability support, and national security. 

Enacted Budget Information
Fiscal Years 2026-2027 Enacted Budget

Legislative Biennial Budget Report

Biennial Budget Information

Governor's Press Release

Proposed Budget - Fiscal Years 2026-2027

On January 15, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen released his recommended budget for the 2026-2027 biennium. Spending from all funds is recommended at $18.94 billion in fiscal 2026, a 5.0 percent increase from fiscal 2025, and $18.95 billion in fiscal 2027, a 0.5 percent increase from fiscal 2026. The budget recommends a two-year average decrease in general fund spending of 0.5 percent, with fiscal 2026 at $5.38 billion (a 1.7 percent decrease from fiscal 2025), and fiscal 2027 at $5.42 billion (a 0.8 percent increase over fiscal 2026). Nominal growth in general fund net receipts is estimated to increase by 9.7 percent in fiscal 2026 compared to fiscal 2025. The governor’s recommendation provides an unobligated balance of $755.7 million, or 13.9 percent of General Fund appropriations in the Cash Reserve Fund in addition to the minimum General Fund reserve of $388.5 million at the end of the biennium. 

Proposed Budget Highlights 
The recommended budget focuses on effectively stewarding taxpayer dollars without compromising the quality of state services. The budget invests more in kids, grows property tax relief, increases developmental disability aid, staffs the new correctional Reception and Treatment Center expansion, and provides public servants with a three percent salary increase each year. The following recommendations are included: 

Conservative Balanced Budget

• Solves the budget gap identified in the November Tax Rate Review by: 
  
  • Holding the line on spending growth
  • Reducing excess cash funds on hand 
  • Making strategic cuts to reverse spending expansion in prior years

Doing More with Less

• Grows property tax relief through the Property Tax Credit Fund, the School District Property Tax Credit Fund, and the Homestead Exemption Program 
• Expands the State’s investment in K-12 education by providing additional funds to the Education Future Fund which secures the administration’s commitment to special education in schools and provides opportunities for career technical educational programs and teacher retention 
• Recommends a three percent annual salary increase
• Provides funds to staff the new correctional Reception and Treatment Center expansion
• Increases reimbursements to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations and directs funds to eliminate the development disability waitlist 
• Invests funds in the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Center
• Recommends merging the Department of Environment and Energy with the Department of Natural Resources

Other

• Shifts a current law of transfer of cash from the Cash Reserve Fund to the General Fund in FY 2026-27 to the Education Future Fund in FY 2028-29
• Transfers money from the Cash Reserve Fund to the Nebraska Capital Construction Fund for capital construction projects and to the Governor’s Emergency Fund
  

Proposed Budget Information
Fiscal Years 2026-2027 Budget Proposal 

Budget Presentation