The real story of Thanksgiving
The real story of Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving from the staff of the Platte Institute. Here’s a nicely done, brief video that serves as a reminder.
Extra money belongs to the Omaha taxpayer
Extra money belongs to the Omaha taxpayer
An excess in reserves for OPS creates an opportunity to do the right thing - protect the taxpayer.
Voters abolish local government over income tax
Voters abolish local government over income tax
Hat-tip to Jared Walczak at the Tax Foundation for pointing out this worthwhile read in the New York Times about an Ohio village where voters decided to abolish their local government in order to fend off a tax increase. Residents of Amelia, Ohio voted to disband the local political subdivision after their council imposed a...
Nebraska turkey facts for Thanksgiving
Nebraska turkey facts for Thanksgiving
Nebraska Turkey Growers Cooperative in Gibbon, Nebraska, the state’s only turkey processing plant, produces more than 55 million pounds of turkey a year. Nebraska’s 17 turkey growers, who are members of the Nebraska Turkey Growers Cooperative, raise approximately 4 million turkeys each year. The majority of these turkeys are packaged under the Norbest label. In 2007,...
Occupational licenses should be fully portable
Occupational licenses should be fully portable
Those of us who work with occupational licensing sometimes operate in a bit of an endless loop. You see, we’re not entirely sure that there are very many occupations for which the state should be licensing (granting permission to work). At the same time, we often promote things like “universal recognition” legislation, which would say...
VIDEO: End the Competitor’s Veto
VIDEO: End the Competitor’s Veto
One of the best parts of working at the Platte Institute is helping Nebraskans overcome barriers to opportunity. There are so many people with great ideas for making life better in our state. But often, working people in our state face obstacles to making life better for themselves and others because of laws that were...
Low trust in government may have surprising consequences
Low trust in government may have surprising consequences
According to a recent editorial published by the Omaha World-Herald, locally elected officials are losing the faith of their constituency because they are making decisions without ample public involvement. But what does that ultimately mean? An academic study in 2010 found that “individuals in low-trust countries want more government intervention even though they know the...
Report shows Douglas County tax collections
Report shows Douglas County tax collections
Ever wonder how much revenue your county collects? Well, due to reporting standards I can’t pull this type of information for every county in the state – but luckily Douglas County makes it easy since they issue a standardized report each year. Here is a list of what types of revenues and how much was...
Talking hemp in McCook
Talking hemp in McCook
It caught my eye that the McCook Farm, Ranch & Hemp Expo took place last week. Horse sales and ag exhibitors were featured alongside expert panels on the cultivation of hemp, a crop that is returning to the ag sector in Nebraska following the 2018 Farm Bill allowing industrial hemp. That might be a surprising...
Has the wind started to shift on wind energy?
Has the wind started to shift on wind energy?
This brief article crossed my path on Sunday afternoon. Officials in a southeast Nebraska county are considering a change to their local wind-energy regulations at the request of a group that opposes the growing presence of wind farms in rural areas. Gage County’s Board of Supervisors will hold a meeting next month to discuss the...
Study says failure and success go together
Study says failure and success go together
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” A lot of us remember that from our childhood, a part of a “proverb” of sorts that elementary students used to hear quite frequently at some point in time, and which came down to the children and grandchildren who had heard it in school. That came...
Why is it so tough to pass a budget?
Why is it so tough to pass a budget?
This story just came through on my news alerts, and while this doesn’t relate directly to Nebraska politics, truth be told, any action or inaction by the federal government has implications for both the state government, and Nebraska taxpayers. When I was in the Legislature–maybe in the first year–one of the more experienced legislators got...
Revenue Committee shelves changes to sales tax exemptions
Revenue Committee shelves changes to sales tax exemptions
It seems we have an answer to my previous question about sales tax exemptions and their part (if any) in the Revenue Committee’s 2020 legislative property tax proposal. So far, it looks like the committee won’t be including a proposal to remove sales tax exemptions right off the bat, instead relying on currently projected increases...
Job licensing reforms can help military spouses
Job licensing reforms can help military spouses
One of the main currents in occupational licensing adjustments that we’ve seen over the last five years or so, is an effort to make it easier for military members–and their spouses–to move across jurisdictions and still be able to work in an area they’ve trained in. The most recent example I’ve seen (and the trigger...