Policy Studies

Looking Ahead to the 2024 Legislative Session

Looking Ahead to the 2024 Legislative Session

The second session of the 108th Nebraska Legislature will convene January 3rd, 2024. The 2024 session is a 60-day “short session.” Legislative activity will proceed at full speed, with much to accomplish right from the start. Following an anticipated rules debate, senators will begin debating the many carryover priority bills from the 2023 session. This...

By Nicole Fox

Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten, Four More Years of Tax Reform

Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten, Four More Years of Tax Reform

To download the full “Nebraska’s Path to the Top Ten Report” click here. Summary  Nebraska entered 2022 with one of the least-competitive tax systems in a highly competitive region. But then a structural surge in tax revenues was utilized by lawmakers to perform Nebraska’s two-year tax transformation. Across two governors and two years, Nebraska lawmakers...

By Michael Lucci

AI and the Discouraged Worker

AI and the Discouraged Worker

Nebraska has the potential to become an exemplar in using artificial technology to bridge the gap in the State’s workforce by providing employment opportunities to those currently excluded from the labor market.  Nebraska boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States, standing at 2 percent, tied for the fifth lowest in the...

By Lance Pounds

Setting the facts straight on Nebraska’s opportunity scholarships

Setting the facts straight on Nebraska’s opportunity scholarships

Nebraska’s Opportunity Scholarships Act program, enacted in LB 753, creates a pathway for Nebraska students to learn and thrive in the education environment that suits them best. The program provides $25 million per year for roughly 5,000 students to enroll in a private school rather than a public school.   Nebraska’s school choice program is funded...

By Michael Lucci

Platte Institute Nominated for State Policy Network Bob Williams Award

Platte Institute Nominated for State Policy Network Bob Williams Award

The Platte Institute is honored to be nominated for a State Policy Network Bob Williams Award: Biggest State Win. As a part of our nomination for this award, we outlined three historic victories:   Nebraska Income Tax Reform:  LB754 is a tour de force of income tax reforms. The individual and corporate income taxes are...

By Jim Vokal

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes a Blow for the Little Guy

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes a Blow for the Little Guy

Back in January, we told the story of Geraldine Tyler’s challenge of Hennepin County, Minnesota’s taking of her property to collect back property taxes, and her loss of any equity interest remaining.   While no one denies that the government can seize property to collect back taxes and fines, the question is really about how much...

By Laura Ebke

New Iowa law provides model for Nebraska to reform local bond elections

New Iowa law provides model for Nebraska to reform local bond elections

Two school bond elections in Omaha-area schools succeeded by a 2-1 margin on May 9, authorizing more than $120 million in new debt and taxes for the school districts. The bond proceeds are committed to infrastructure and construction costs for the districts. This result wasn’t unusual for a local school bond election, and is matched...

By Michael Lucci

Nebraska’s Licensing Challenges Continue

Nebraska’s Licensing Challenges Continue

As the glow of Nebraska’s annual Spring Game leads to dreams of hearing “We’re Number 1” at Memorial Stadium, there is one area of policy where Nebraska is “number one” in our conference/region—but being number one is not a good thing.  The Archbridge Institute recently released its first State Occupational Licensing Index, and Nebraska’s position...

By Laura Ebke

LB 754 fiscal and economic impact

LB 754 fiscal and economic impact

Nebraska has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul its tax code in 2023. A successful tax reform will pay dividends for generations.  Nebraska has large revenue surpluses, and the best thing to do with the surplus revenue stream is to return most of it to the productive private economy through thoughtful and sustainable tax reform. This...

By Michael Lucci

The state tax revolution sweeps across the Great Plains

The state tax revolution sweeps across the Great Plains

Nebraska lawmakers took a key step towards historic tax reform last week. Revenue Committee lawmakers voted to consolidate several tax reforms into LB 754 and to advance the tax package out of committee on Thursday, March 16.   Nebraska’s legislative progress comes not a moment too soon, as major tax reform proposals are advancing across the...

By Michael Lucci

Nebraska’s tax code should encourage remote workers to move in

Nebraska’s tax code should encourage remote workers to move in

Nebraska has one of the most aggressive regimes for taxation of non-resident income in the country, according to new rankings from the National Taxpayers Union. While raising tax revenues from non-Nebraskans might seem like found money, it also ensures that many non-Nebraskans will never visit Nebraska for work purposes.    Tax compliance is heavy for remote...

By Michael Lucci

How We Vote: A Platte Institute Study

How We Vote: A Platte Institute Study

In recent years, states around the country have started experimenting with different methods of voting. Ranked Choice Voting. Instant Runoff Voting. Open Primaries. Approval Voting. All of these methods of voting are being proposed or experimented with in an assortment of configurations in different jurisdictions. From local elections to statewide elections; from primary elections to...

By Laura Ebke

Nebraska community college property tax repeal: simplifying the tax code to deliver property tax relief

Nebraska community college property tax repeal: simplifying the tax code to deliver property tax relief

High Resolution Downloadable Study Here. Introduction Nebraska’s property tax burden is the central issue in the state’s tax debate. Property taxes are high and unevenly distributed, making it hard to develop clean solutions for direct tax reduction. Indeed, legislative action in the last several sessions shows that Nebraska lawmakers are working to tame the state’s...

By Michael Lucci

A View from Behind the Glass: What to Expect in the 108th Legislature

A View from Behind the Glass: What to Expect in the 108th Legislature

As we prepare for the new legislative session, Nebraska’s facing a substantially changed landscape in the Unicameral. There are 16 new state senators, which is nearly one in every three legislative seats. In addition, our governor’s office is transitioning and a wave of retirements is occurring for legislative employees responsible for the important behind the...

By Jim Vokal