(NOTE: An earlier version of this article has had some math calculations corrected. The author acknowledges that she studied political science so she wouldn’t have to do math, and apologizes for any confusion on the reader’s part caused by her difficulty in calculating large numbers!) Federalism is a form of government that maintains the...
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Today on Nebraskanomics, I’m joined by Matt Wynn, the executive director of The Flatwater Free Press. Tune into our conversation to learn about government payroll reporting and more government transparency projects in Nebraska. You can also listen...
Nebraska’s Revenue Committee is advancing a broad overhaul of the state’s tax code. These reforms, if enacted, would bring the Cornhusker State in line with the ongoing state tax revolution. During the post-pandemic era, states are turning away from progressive tax structures and creating lower, flatter income taxes. And mobile workers are moving towards states...
City clerks in 17 small Nebraska towns have been caught stealing from taxpayers in recent years. Addie Costello of the Flatwater Free Press and Nebraska Deputy Auditor Craig Kubicek discuss ways Nebraskans can trust but verify what government is doing with your money, and what to do if you see something that might be wrong.
By Addie Costello Flatwater Free Press Over and over again, Steve Sharp told the village clerk that she deserved a raise. When Sharp was elected chairperson of the village board in 2010, Mary Terry had already worked as Cedar Creek’s village clerk and treasurer for nearly a decade. Terry controlled Cedar Creek’s finances, records, utilities...
Foreword by Jim Smith Jim Smith is Chief Strategy Officer at the Platte Institute and former President of Blueprint Nebraska. He also previously served as a State Senator and chaired the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature. In 2018 and 2019, I had the opportunity to work with business leaders from across...
The chair of the Unicameral’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee joins Jim to discuss the financial picture for Nebraska and the qualities that he’d suggest his colleagues look for in a successor for leading the committee. A transcript of the discussion is available below. You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast episode on...
The Platte Institute, The Flatwater Free Press, and Code for Nebraska have published an online, searchable database of state government workers and their salaries. You can find the site anytime at salaries.flatwaterfreepress.org. The Platte Institute has long prioritized good governance in all our policy initiatives, and one of the fundamental principles of good governance is openness...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented amount of money sent to the state of Nebraska from the federal government. First, the CARES Act sent $1.25 billion directly to the state. However, when you include all the money sent to the various agencies and operations, the total was closer to $10 billion. Then, the...
Members of the Appropriations Committee, my name is Sarah Curry, and I am the policy director at the Platte Institute. I appreciate the invitation to provide comments on LR178. Overall, the Platte Institute’s philosophy for the use of these funds is not to grow government in a way that will burden future taxpayers or put...
During the height of the pandemic and directed health measures that caused businesses across the state to close, Nebraska saw its unemployment rate jump to 8.3%, or 86,300 people actively looking for work. This was the most people filing unemployment claims ever in the history of recording unemployment data. Nebraska paid a total of $1,423,551,932...
William Glasgall and former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch of the Volcker Alliance join Jim to discuss why a major influx of federal money might be mismanaged under current local government financial practices. A transcript of the discussion can be found below. You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast episode...
The news of the latest federal infrastructure bill, which follows the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, has some people worried about the amount of debt and spending our country is taking on. And while that is happening far away from Nebraska, many of us don’t think about the impact these spending plans...
A new nonprofit journalism outlet will help to fill gaps in Nebraska’s media market by telling statewide stories and improving government transparency. Former USA Today and Omaha World-Herald data journalist Matt Wynn discusses the launch of The Flatwater Free Press. You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. A...