By the time introduction of new bills closed Friday morning, senators had offered a total of 16 for the budget special session.

Among the four bills introduced Friday were a move to tax such formerly exempted items as food, for a year, and a proposal to allow property tax credits only for landowners who live in Nebraska.

Omaha Sen. Rich Pahls' bill (LB13) would pull exempted items back onto the sales tax rolls for calendar year 2010. Those items, such as food, prescription medicine and nonprofit and government purchases, would be taxed at 0.65 percent of purchase price.

For example, an item costing $20 would be taxed 13 cents.

Pahls introduced legislation (LB386) during this year's regular session that would have eliminated all sales tax exemptions, suspended certain motor vehicle taxes and fees, reduced the state sales tax rate, altered the sales tax collection fee and reduced the corporate income tax to zero.

That bill was killed in committee.

Omaha Sen. Tom White introduced a bill Friday that would amend the property tax credit program to exclusively help Nebraska homeowners rather than out-of-state landowners. That would be accomplished by changing the tax relief, developed in 2007, from a tax credit to a homestead exemption.

By Friday afternoon, he got an answer from Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on whether the legislation fell within the governor's call for the special session.

Bruning said some portions were within the parameters of what the Legislature was asked to address, and some portions were not.

"I respect the attorney general's opinion regarding the narrow nature of Gov. Heineman's call, and I do not plan to challenge it," White said. "I'm disappointed that the governor's call won't allow us to remedy the fact that Nebraska families are subsidizing the property tax bills of large corporations and out-of-state landowners."

White said he offered the bill to begin discussion of alternative ways to balance the budget. He wants to continue the discussion in the regular session.

His bill would have increased the tax credit for a home valued at $100,000 from $82 to $156. The credit on a house valued at $200,000 would go from $164 to $312. The owner of a $250,000 home would get $390.

Lincoln Sen. Ken Haar introduced a bill (LB16) that would protect three cash funds used as economic development tools in rural Nebraska. They are the Agricultural Opportunities and Value-Added Partnerships Act, which supports small enterprise formation and encourages partnerships, the Microenterprise Development Cash Fund and the Building Entrepreneurial Communities Cash Fund.

It doesn't make sense to take away tools that develop the rural economy when the state is in the middle of a bad economy, Haar said.

A bill (LB14) introduced by Sen. LeRoy Louden of Ellsworth would prevent transfers from the cash fund used by the Nebraska Brand Committee, and from the Nebraska Brand Inspection and Theft Prevention Fund.

The brand committee uses its reserve to keep the agency afloat when the number of cattle in the state goes down, according to Charlie Hamilton, a Gordon rancher and member of the committee's board. The committee has dipped into the reserve eight of the past 10 years.

Cattle fees run the brand inspection and theft prevention program.

"We willingly pay this checkoff," said Sen. Tom Hansen, a North Platte area rancher and member of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. "We are serious about cattle rustling, serious about the intent of people to commit fraud when they sell cattle that do not belong to them."

One senator -- Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center -- announced Friday he would not proceed on a bill (LB12) he introduced Thursday that would have taken away sales tax credits for wind energy projects.

Stuthman told the Legislature he introduced the bill because he didn't want the state using commodities checkoff funds to help balance the budget.

"I was trying to do my duty as a senator to replace those funds," he said.

But he supports wind energy projects, he said.

He later explained he had gotten additional information after he introduced the bill that the wind energy tax credit fund would be needed in the next 18 months.

In backing down on the bill, he said he was also concerned about passing a law one year, such as the wind energy tax credits, and taking it away the next.

"That doesn't send a real good message about the credibility of the Legislature," he said.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. Nancy Hicks contributed to this report.