By GRANT SCHULTE ,  Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers will kick off a new session on Wednesday facing a variety of issues, including another tax cut package and looming state budget challenges.

Here are five things to watch in the 2018 session:

___

TIME CRUNCH

The 60-day session will limit the time available to debate legislation, creating pressure on senators to pass measures quickly. They convene for 90-day sessions in odd-numbered years and 60 day sessions in even-numbered years.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer has said he wants to allow debate on priority issues, but doesn’t want to spend hours on legislation that doesn’t have a realistic chance of passing. Senators in recent years have burned through much of their sessions with squabbles over parliamentary rules, in particular a proposal by conservatives to combat filibusters.

The state’s constitution sets the Legislature’s opening date 7/8as the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January. The session is slated to end April 18.

___

BUDGET CRUNCH

Lawmakers and Gov. Pete Ricketts say the state budget is a top priority. The state faces a projected $173.3 million revenue shortfall in the current two-year budget cycle, which ends on June 30, 2019.

Ricketts and key lawmakers say they intend to adjust the budget without raising taxes. The governor has ordered a state employee hiring freeze for all agencies under his control and temporarily reduced the amount of money each state agency receives each quarter. In an interview last week, Ricketts said he’s confident he and lawmakers can balance the budget, but declined to disclose his plans until after he delivers his annual State of the State address in mid to late January.

The tight budget may complicate efforts to pass new measures that cost the state money.

___

A NEW TAX PACKAGE

Ricketts is expected to introduce a new tax package after his previous effort stalled in the 2017 session. The proposal will likely include some mix of income tax and property tax cuts although the governor has offered few specifics.

No matter how the package looks, Ricketts will have to find some agreement between farm groups, which want to see an emphasis on property tax cuts, and business groups, which are more interested in lowering income taxes. Other senators have argued the state needs to spend more on the state prison system and other priorities instead of cutting taxes.

The measure that stalled in 2017 would have relied on so-called revenue triggers to automatically lower the state’s top tax rate in years when the state collects more revenue than expected. It also would have changed the way agricultural land is valued so that it more closely aligns with a farmer’s potential income.

___

MORE GRIDLOCK?

The number of filibusters has risen sharply over the last few years as a way to thwart contentious bills, and more of the same is likely unless lawmakers can reach compromises.

Unlike past decades, when senators needed a 25-vote simple majority to pass most bills, many disputed bills now require a 33-vote supermajority to force an end to legislative debate. During the 2017 session, filibusters helped sink income and property tax cut legislation, an effort to eliminate Nebraska’s motorcycle helmet requirement, and a gun-rights proposal, among other bills.

Scheer said senators may be more motivated to find agreement in this upcoming session because their terms in office are expiring or they’re up for re-election in November.

___

TERM LIMITS AND ELECTIONS

This session will be the last for six lawmakers who can’t seek re-election because of term limits — an unusually small number compared to turnover in recent years. Another 16 of the Legislature’s 49 senators are up for re-election in the November general election.

Scheer said senators who are up for re-election often feel more pressure to show what they’ve accomplished in office, and so they’re likely to push harder for legislation that will help their chances. Those who are on the verge of leaving because of term limits sometimes feel pressure to meet a last-minute goal.

One lawmaker, Sen. John Murante of Gretna, is running for state treasurer and has announced plans to introduce new measures that would require a government-issued identification at the polls — an issue likely to resonate with Republican voters. Another legislator, Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln, has announced he won’t seek a second term because he’s moving out of state.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — People are being encouraged to make tax-deductible donations to the Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Fund to help fund projects that benefit the state’s many species.

Officials say the donations are matched with other grants so that $1 donated becomes $4 for aiding wildlife. Projects include improving at-risk species’ habitat, keeping common species common through prairie restorations and invasive species removal, and preventing future endangered species listings by funding reintroduction projects.

Go online at Outdoornebraska.gov/wildlifeconservationfund to donate or get more information about the Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Fund.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Lowell man died after a two-vehicle collision in south-central Nebraska.

The crash occurred Thursday afternoon near the intersection of Nebraska Highway 10 and the 50A roadway, about 7 miles (12 kilometers) southeast of Kearney.

The Kearney County Sheriff’s Office says the driver of one vehicle, 78-year-old Paul Holl, his wife Jolene, and the driver of the other vehicle, 53-year-old Mark Dieken, of Minden, were taken to a Kearney hospital. The Sheriff’s Office says Paul Holl died there.

The collision is being investigated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An economist says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states rose over the past month, pointing to continuing improvement in regional economic conditions.

A report released Tuesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 59.0 from 57.2 in November. The October figure was 58.8.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says profit growth, low interest rates and the recently passed tax package pushed business confidence last month to its highest level since January 2011.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Racing Commission has approved agreements to continue simulcast horse racing at all four tracks in the state.

Commission Director Tom Sage announced the decision in a news release early Monday.

A dispute between Grand Island’s Fonner Park and the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association had threatened to shut down simulcasting at all Nebraska tracks.

The possibility that Horsemen’s Park would be forced to suspend simulcasting starting Monday led to a lawsuit being filed in federal court asking for an injunction against the commission.

Simulcast wagering, in which someone in Lincoln or Omaha can bet on races at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York or Santa Anita Park in California, for instance, has been legal in Nebraska since 1988.