LINCOLN — A leading state senator reacted coolly Wednesday to a suggestion that not only youth sports, but also adult recreation, should get a tax break.
Bellevue Sen. Abbie Cornett, who is chairwoman of the Legislature's Revenue Committee, introduced a measure to clarify that youth sports events and leagues run by municipalities and nonprofit organizations such as the YMCA should be exempt from sales and use taxes.
Her Legislative Bill 903 would still require taxation of fees paid on youth sports run by private, for-profit clubs. Participants who are 19 and older would also have to pay taxes for adult basketball or soccer leagues not run by a city or 501(c)(3) group.
Representatives of Nebraska's YMCAs and the City of Lincoln urged Cornett at a public hearing to extend those tax breaks to adult programs.
Cornett opposed expanding her bill. "At some point, we can't exempt everything," she said.
LB 903 was introduced after the state proposed enforcing a long-unenforced provision that requires taxes on all youth sports activities. Soccer moms and baseball dads called foul, spawning the compromise proposal.
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