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# Pillen Replaces One-Third of Nebraska Revenue Forecasting Board
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-nebraska-2026-09-18-a/
- Published: 2026-09-18T16:24:10.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-18T16:24:10.000Z
- Description: Gov. Jim Pillen replaced three members of Nebraska’s nine-person revenue forecasting board weeks before an October forecast that will shape the state’s next budget, amid sharply diverging tax-receipt trends.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: State News, Nebraska

Gov. Jim Pillen has replaced three members of the nine-person Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board, changing one-third of the panel weeks before it is scheduled to update the revenue forecast that will shape the state’s next budget.

The new appointees are former state senators Lou Ann Linehan and Tom Briese, along with retired accountant Tom Wilson. Pillen’s office said the three outgoing members—Leslie Andersen, Thomas Henning and John Kuehn—had terms that expired this month and did not apply for reappointment, according to [Nebraska Public Media’s report and response from the governor’s spokesperson](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/gov-pillen-plucks-two-familiar-state-allies-for-forecasting-board-appointments/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The board is due to meet Oct. 30.

The appointments matter because Nebraska law assigns the board a direct role in estimating the revenue available to state government. The [statute creating the panel](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=77-27,156&ref=theamericanquorum.com) says it assists the governor in developing revenue estimates and the Legislature in setting income- and sales-tax rates. Budget writers rely on those estimates when deciding how much the state can spend without creating a deficit.

Linehan chaired the Legislature’s Revenue Committee for six years and helped develop major income-tax legislation. Briese served on the same committee before Pillen appointed him state treasurer in 2023; he left that office in 2025\. Wilson is a retired certified public accountant and a board member of Farm Credit Services of America. The governor’s office said their combined experience would strengthen the panel’s evaluation of economic conditions and revenue trends.

The change has also drawn scrutiny because of the timing and the appointees’ prior policy roles. A [Flatwater Free Press investigation published by the Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/09/16/as-shortfall-looms-pillen-installs-allies-on-board-meant-to-keep-politics-out-of-budget-forecast/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that it is the first time in the board’s roughly four-decade history that a governor has replaced three members at once. Critics, including Democratic officials, questioned whether the appointments could politicize the forecast. Linehan and Briese told the news organization that they would act independently and base their work on the data.

The October meeting will begin with a mixed fiscal picture. The Nebraska Department of Revenue’s [August General Fund report](https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/news-release/gen-fund/2026/General%5FFund%5FReceipts%5FNews%5FRelease%5FAugust%5F2026%5FFinal%5FCopy.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) showed net receipts of $653 million, $7.6 million above the certified monthly forecast. Through the first two months of fiscal 2026-27, receipts totaled $1.026 billion—about $7.2 million above forecast but $1.5 million below the same point a year earlier.

The categories moved in different directions. Fiscal-year-to-date net sales and use taxes were about $60.7 million above forecast, while net individual income tax was $27.7 million below forecast and net corporate income tax was $15.2 million below forecast. Those offsets mean the overall result remains close to the state’s projection even though the sources of revenue differ sharply from what forecasters expected.

The board’s October decision will not itself appropriate money or change tax rates. It will, however, reset the baseline used by the governor and lawmakers as they prepare the 2027 legislative session. That makes the first public meeting of the reconstituted panel an important test of how its new members explain their assumptions, handle competing indicators and reach a consensus forecast.