The Special Legislative Session to address property taxes has officially begun, and our team is hard at work advocating for sound policy and opposing proposals that would hurt Nebraska. So far this session, we have provided testimony on the following bills: LB 1– This bill, carried by Senator Linehan, is Governor Pillen’s plan to...
Chairwoman Linehan and members of the Revenue Committee, my name is Jim Smith, and I am the Chief Strategy Officer at the Platte Institute. Previously, I served as President of Blueprint Nebraska for three years, and prior to that, as you all know, on this legislative committee. Most of the time when the Revenue Committee...
Chairwoman Linehan and Members of the Revenue Committee, my name is Nicole Fox, Director of Government Relations at the Platte Institute, and I am here to testify today in strong SUPPORT of Sen. Lindstrom’s LB827. I want to thank Sen. Lindstrom for introducing this bill to provide Nebraska one more tool in the toolbox to...
Chairman Williams and Members of the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee, My name is Nicole Fox, Director of Government Relations at the Platte Institute, and I testify today in strong SUPPORT of LB1127. I’d like to take this opportunity to say my sincerest thank you to Sen. Wishart not only for introducing this proposal, but...
Chairman Hughes and Members of the Executive Board, my name is Nicole Fox, and I am here today in SUPPORT of Sen. Brewer’s LB777 on behalf of the Platte Institute. Even though Nebraska media seems to be enjoying the launch of several news outlets in the past year, there are still gaps to fill in...
Chairman Brewer and Members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, my name is Laura Ebke. I’m the senior fellow at the Platte Institute, and I come today in support of LB839. LB839 would simply repeal the Licensing of Truth and Deception Examiners. This committee has heard several bills over the last few years...
Chairman Brewer and Members of the Government, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee, my name is Laura Ebke. I am the senior fellow at the Platte Institute and speak today in support of LB709 and AM1698. We thank Senator McCollister for introducing this bill and making it his personal priority legislation this year. LB709 grows out...
Chair Walz and Members of the Education Committee, my name is Nicole Fox, and I’m here on behalf of the Platte Institute in support of LB960. LB960 would remove the requirement for the PRAXIS tests to enter into a teacher education program or prove competence. It would allow teachers educated in Nebraska to prove their...
Chairman Briese and members of the committee, my name is Laura Ebke, and I am the senior fellow at the Platte Institute, here in support of LB900 and thank Senator Lowe for introducing it. At Platte, we have long had the goal of encouraging individuals, entrepreneurs and small businesses as they’ve worked to grow our...
Chairman Briese and members of the General Affairs Committee, my name is Laura Ebke, and I’m the Senior Fellow at the Platte Institute, here today to testify in support of LB1236. We’ve talked a lot in the last decade about “growing Nebraska.” We’ve claimed to be good for small businesses and entrepreneurs. But sometimes, the...
My name is Nicole Fox, Director of Government Relations for the Platte Institute, and I’m testifying in opposition to LB832. We oppose this bill because it is bad policy. LB832 adds 2 tax brackets above our current highest 6.84% personal income tax bracket. LB832 would impose a 7.75% tax on incomes >$100,000 per year and...
My name is Nicole Fox and I’m testifying on LB939 in a neutral capacity on behalf of the Platte Institute. While we applaud efforts to reduce income taxes, we are concerned that this bill does not provide the best means to reduce the tax burden on our workforce and improve Nebraska’s economic competitiveness. In 2021,...
My name is Nicole Fox and I’m testifying on LB938 in a neutral capacity on behalf of the Platte Institute. I don’t think anyone is going to be surprised to hear me say that reducing the corporate income tax rate is a good economic policy choice for Nebraska. As Sen. Friesen has mentioned in the...
Good afternoon, Chairwoman Linehan and members of the Revenue Committee. My name is Nicole Fox. The Platte Institute SUPPORTS LB987. Local school districts rely to a large degree on property taxes to provide the high-quality education Nebraska’s children deserve and for which they have a right. As I stated during my LB986 testimony, our research...