Just in time for Halloween, the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board will meet on October 30th.

Will their report be a Trick or a Treat?

Just what is the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board, and why does its meeting matter?

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board studies the state’s finances and predicts whether Nebraska will face a budget shortfall through 2029, and, if so, how bad it expects it to be.

Some fear that the new members of the Economic Forecasting Board will try to hide the scary economic skeletons in the closet, not because they meet before Halloween, but because they meet right before the election.

You see, recently Governor Pillen appointed two strong allies of his to the board. Tom Briese of Albion and Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn. They are two former state senators who worked with Pillen to enact income tax cuts in 2023 and supported his many property tax proposals. Pillen’s plans proposed much bigger cuts than what the Unicameral finally sent to the governor’s desk.

Skeptics worry that these former senators were appointed for political reasons and not practical ones. They worry that the politics of the day might get these appointees to say the state is on a better economic track than it is days before the voters have their say on November 3rd.

If Pillen had done a good job growing our economy and balancing our budget, he wouldn’t be in danger of losing to Democrat Lynne Walz in this Ruby Red state.

The Economic Forecasting Board is different than the Department of Economic Development. The work they do helps the Economic Forecasting Board make their predictions. The DED has become more politicized under Pillen as well.

Their website says their mission is to “Provide quality leadership and services that enable Nebraska’s communities, businesses, and people to succeed in a global economy. We are here, equipped and ready, to assist you and your community in developing and capitalizing on economic development opportunities.”

Recently, the Nebraska Examiner published a survey in which the majority of the employees of the Department of Economic Development Staff expressed problems in the Department.

A common thread was that the state was making Draconian cuts and being run in an authoritarian fashion. One person who answered the anonymous survey said they received a memo suggesting that employees shouldn’t take part in meetings that were being recorded “so that a record was not created.”

A very believable comment coming from an administration where the governor refuses to debate the issues or respond to the voters’ concerns.

It’s reports like that which make people skeptical that what the Forecasting Board puts out will be void of anything that might hurt the governor politically.

Here’s what else the DED’s website has to say about their mission:

“Since 1967, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has been focused on growing and diversifying the state’s economic base, bringing new dollars, new businesses, and new people into the state.”

But have they really been that successful lately?

Now, much of Nebraska’s economic problems are due to President Trump’s tariffs and how they’ve hurt the ag community, but not all of them. According to Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index, Nebraska has lost 3,900 food processing jobs in the past year alone.

The Tyson Lexington and Kellogg’s Omaha plant closings were the bigger names, but that caused a ripple effect, not only hurting those workers but the workers of the ancillary businesses that supported those plants and their workers.

That may be one of the reasons the Nebraska Farmers Bureau didn’t endorse Pillen for governor as they did 4 years ago.

According to the same Creighton report, Nebraska has lost 5% of manufacturing jobs in the last year as well.

So right before Halloween and the elections, the Economic Forecasting Board will take a look at where the state is heading financially, and putting political appointees on the board won’t be able to hide what the people on the ground are experiencing.

If you’ve seen any of the Governor’s campaign ads, he doesn’t talk about how Nebraska’s economy has flourished under his tenure -because it hasn’t.

On October 30th, the Forecasting Board will meet. I hope the ghosts, goblins, and demons of the last four years don’t scare us too much on October 31st.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.