Tune in to the latest episode of Nebraskanomics as we welcome Platte Institute’s Senior Tax Policy Advisor Jared Walczak. During the episode Jared and Platte CEO Jim Vokal discuss a new report from the Platte Institute that examines sales tax modernization and how it could benefit Nebraska. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.
As Nebraska competes for workers, entrepreneurs, investment, and new residents, policymakers have rightly made income tax rate reductions a priority. Meanwhile, addressing the state’s above-average local property tax burdens is a top priority for taxpayers and lawmakers alike. An eroding sales tax base makes income and property tax relief harder, while responsible sales tax modernization...
Nebraskans pay their taxes faithfully to local governments, reasonably expecting their hard-earned money to be spent for the improvement and advancement of their local communities. While most tax dollars are eventually spent by local governments directly in their communities, where is this money kept from the time it is collected to when it gets spent? ...
When it comes to economic development, workforce attraction, and keeping young families rooted in Nebraska, many of our communities face a fundamental bottleneck: housing supply. While much of the national conversation around housing affordability focuses on high interest rates and construction costs, one piece of the puzzle remains within our own control. Government regulations, outdated...
Nebraska is one of a shrinking number of states that still tax the transfer of property at death, and the only state to impose such a tax at the local level. Some states impose estate taxes, which fall on the decedent’s estate above some exclusion, typically of several million dollars. Nebraska is one of five...
Most of us picture lawmaking as a public process: a bill is introduced, debated, amended, approved by the legislature, signed by the governor, and scrutinized carefully. But agencies are increasingly bypassing that public process. In Washington and state capitals such as Lincoln, agency staff can use guidance documents—such as memos, policy letters, and online instructions—to...
Tune in to the latest episode of Nebraskanomics as we welcome the 41st Governor of the State of Nebraska, Governor Jim Pillen. During the episode Governor Pillen and Platte Institute Chief Executive Officer Jim Vokal discuss the future of tax reform in Nebraska, how we can attract workers, families, and investment to our state, and...
In the last three posts on this topic, we’ve examined the shifting sands of Nebraska’s demographics. We’ve seen that we are actively losing the regional race for domestic migration (Post 1), that our population is rapidly concentrating along the I-80 corridor (Post 2), and that our rural workforce is aging out at an unsustainable rate...
This is the sixth (and final) in a series of research notes written by our summer intern, Ethan, exploring different facets of housing policy, both in Nebraska and in some of our sister states. Housing affordability consistently ranks among the top priorities and concerns for Nebraska consumers. Studies repeatedly show that land use regulation significantly...
This is the fifth in a series of research notes written by our summer intern, Ethan, exploring different facets of housing policy, both in Nebraska and in some of our sister states. Demand for housing in Montana’s communities has risen in recent years, and so too have housing prices. The Frontier Institute released its “Montana...
If you want to understand the future of Nebraska’s economy, you have to look at who is building it. In our previous post, we mapped the geographic reality of Nebraska’s population: steady growth consolidating along the I-80 corridor, while rural counties face compounding demographic declines. But population size is only half the story. The composition...
This is the fourth in a series of Research Notes compiled by our summer intern, Ethan Roth. He has been exploring a number of issues related to regulatory issues that can impact housing availability and costs. In 2023, Arizona’s Goldwater Institute successfully passed “The Permit Freedom Act,” which sought to reduce building permit times and...
This is the third in a series of Research Notes written by our summer intern, Ethan Roth. This summer, his work focused on housing issues. This post is a review of a study done by the American Enterprise Institute. Local governments face tradeoffs. Increased housing density (and the associated benefits of lower housing costs and...