In 2019, Nebraskans started paying sales tax on most of their online purchases. Little did we know back then that this policy would help the state weather the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, “e-commerce retail sales totaled $211.5 billion in Q2, an increase of $51.1 billion or 31.8% from the...
The 13th edition of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s national ranking of states was released, and Nebraska ranks 19th out of 50 on economic performance. (1 = best, 50 = worst) You might be asking yourself; how do they measure economic performance? Well, it looks backwards on how the state has performed in three different...
As part of a last-minute compromise in LB1107, Nebraska state senators have given final approval to a new property tax relief program (not, as Sarah Curry notes, property tax reform). The new program expected to be signed into law is called the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act, which will join the list of other state...
It is no secret there are economic consequences to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some figures might be misleading policymakers and people’s perception of state revenues and the economy. While Nebraska is weathering the pandemic’s economic storm relatively better than many states, there is still reason to pause when looking at the revenue numbers. The federal...
At our fifth and final Virtual Property Tax Town Hall of the summer, Omaha area voters and taxpayers had the chance to weigh in on a number of online straw polls on property tax issues. While most of these poll questions were asked of previous participants, the Legislature’s recent advancement of LB1107 gave us the...
This video is also available for viewing and sharing on Facebook and YouTube. Click here to read online poll results from this town hall.
On August 5, Nebraska lawmakers debated and advanced LB1107, a comprehensive tax and economic package including new property tax relief measures. The Legislature previously debated a separate plan, LB1106 in July, which failed to receive the required 33 votes to overcome a filibuster. LB1107 is a compromise in every sense of the word. Both Republicans and...
Participants in the Platte Institute’s Southeast Nebraska Virtual Property Tax Town Hall voted in five online straw polls on property tax issues. The totals below may not add to 100% due to rounding. While these voters expressed similar sentiments to previous respondents on the impact of COVID-19 on their priorities, and a desire to see...
This video may also be viewed and shared on Facebook and YouTube. Click here to read the online poll responses from this town hall.
Voters and taxpayers from Northeast Nebraska joined the Platte Institute’s third Virtual Property Tax Town Hall of summer 2020, and like participants in the previous online events, they had the option to vote in five online straw polls about various property tax issues. While participants expressed similar levels of support for cutting government spending to...
This video may also be viewed and shared on Facebook and YouTube. Click here to read the online poll results from this town hall.
Lawmakers are set to hold a hearing today on decoupling the state’s tax code from federal CARES Act tax policies that provide emergency economic relief to those most impacted by COVID-19, which will reduce business and employee Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in one way or another. Because these CARES Act policies will reduce many Nebraskans’...
Chairwoman Linehan and members of the Revenue Committee, my name is Sarah Curry, and I am the Policy Director for the Platte Institute. I am here today to testify in opposition to AM3093. It is no secret to any of the committee members that the Platte Institute supports conformity to the CARES Act tax provisions....