Under new bill, landing big business with Nebraska state government could be tougher

Nebraska lawmaker takes aim at contracts

LINCOLN, Neb. — It could become tougher to land a contract with the biggest employer in Nebraska — state government.

Introduced to the Legislature on Tuesday, a bill would allow the state to enter into contracts of $50,000 or more only if they were at least 10 percent cheaper than having the same work done by state employees.

State Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland introduced the measure. It is intended to ensure that the state doesn’t farm out work that state employees could do for roughly the same amount.

The bill would allow the state employee union to offer alternatives to contracting out work before beginning the bidding process with private contractors.