The Platte Institute and North Carolina-based John Locke Foundation are leading a coalition of states to encourage Congress to amend the CARES Act. This would provide states and local governments more flexibility with the federal relief dollars. Kokai offered these comments during an April 25, 2020, appearance on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
Last week Nebraska’s Representative Don Bacon (R) filed legislation aimed at helping local governments utilize the funding already allocated to states under the previously enacted CARES Acts. His bill, properly named the FLEX Act, gives states the flexibility they need (and many have asked for) to combat this crisis without spending more money. This coincides with a coalition...
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Our Goal: Protect the health, safety, and economic opportunity of all Nebraskans. Our Approach: As Nebraska’s Directed Health Measures are eased, working Nebraskans will need new and safe opportunities in a changed economy. For Nebraska to experience a full economic recovery, it will require a fertile environment for new businesses to start and existing firms...
It is a question many have been asking since Congress passed the historic CARES Act at the end of March. Since then there have been two other relief packages for a total cost of more than $2 trillion. But just exactly how much is being sent to Nebraska? Well, that is an important question on...
On March 27, President Trump signed the CARES Act into law, providing $2 trillion in financial aid to families and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. $150 billion of this $2 trillion was allocated to states. The CARES Act specifies that the $150 billion in funds may be used for emergency expenses or for newly...
I thought the Omaha World-Herald got it right in this editorial highlighting the importance of wearing a mask in public during the health crisis. Wearing a mask to prevent the spread of illness seemed foreign to most Americans prior to COVID-19, and now with the political debates rising from the various state and local economic shutdowns, some...
Platte Institute Senior Fellow for Job Licensing Reform Laura Ebke joined a recent webcast along with R Street Institute’s Shoshana Weissmann as the two discussed the landscape for job licensing and regulatory reform in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scroll through the assorted blog posts on this page, or take a look at the Platte Institute website, or at our Twitter or Facebook pages, and you’ll see that we continue to look forward to helping Nebraska develop good policy in the post-COVID-19 reality. From our first big webinar offering Policy Director Sarah Curry’s discussion...
During these uncertain times, I think many of us are seeing that it is more evident than ever that two distinct views exist. One view is the “love of government,” where a belief exists that government knows best and that it’s the government who should step in to solve society’s problems. The other view...
Ernie Goss & Scott Strain on the economic impact of COVID-19 on Nebraska.
Why did the Governor waive the late fees on personal property taxes? No, personal property is not the same as the property tax you pay on your house. Real property is stationary and includes land, buildings, improvements, fixtures, mobile homes, minerals, and wells. Nebraska also taxes another type of property, known as tangible personal property. ...
Use federal funds more effectively before spending more.
In March when Congress approved the CARES Act there was a provision making changes to the unemployment insurance program. Most of us have heard about the ‘pandemic add on’ of $600 per week you can collect ON TOP OF the state’s unemployment benefits. Well, now there is a little more to the story. The Foundation...