According to a new report by the Tax Foundation, Nebraska has a combined federal, state, and local tax rate of 29.13% on wireless services. Most of the tax is at the state and local level, comprising 19.30% of the total tax. For context, Illinois is the highest at 32.20% and Idaho is the lowest at...
In a letter addressed to the governors of Iowa and Nebraska, and state legislators, the leaders of two Midwestern policy organizations propose that both states can improve their economic response to the COVID-19 recession by adopting each other’s recent professional licensing reform legislation. Platte Institute Chief Executive Officer Jim Vokal and Iowans for Tax Relief...
As sometimes happens when you’re reading stories online, you stumble across things you’d never seen from months ago. In this case, I ran into this article from Forbes—published in January of this year—which talks about a study by Atlas Van Lines that tracked migration patterns in the country in 2019. The study found that in...
A recent Wall Street Journal article opens with this line: “The coronavirus destroyed jobs. It also created entrepreneurs.” Although the economy has struggled throughout the pandemic, the challenges have opened up new opportunities for some, as well. “As horrible as [the pandemic] is, and as badly as it has affected so many people, it has...
As health officials advise to avoid large family gatherings this Thanksgiving, and gas prices remain on the lower side, many Americans might take to the highways for a road trip with the people in their COVID bubble. Though AAA travel projections show a major reduction in travel plans from last Thanksgiving, particularly among air passengers,...
The Nebraska Department of Labor reports that the state’s October 2020 unemployment rate declined to 3%, which ranks as the country’s lowest for the third consecutive month. Nebraska’s unemployment rate fell 0.6% from September to October, with non-farm employment increasing by 8,912. Nebraska has not seen an unemployment rate this low since before the pandemic...
Many Nebraska cities levy local sales taxes in addition to the state rate. Cities and counties in Nebraska are authorized to levy a local sales tax under the Local Option Revenue Act (applicable to cities) or Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-319 to 13-326 (applicable to counties). This law allows cities and counties to levy their...
The October General Fund tax revenues are in and it looks like Nebraska is not in danger of having a large budget deficit like some states around the nation are experiencing. According to the October figures, fiscal year net tax revenues are 7% above the certified forecast and for the month of October they are...
That is the focus of a most recent white paper from a private sector consulting firm, MultiState. They conducted an analysis of the 50 states and their likelihood of enacting a tax increase next year. Nebraska is in the “lower risk” category thanks to not having a large budget deficit, having an accepted amount in...
Politics and policy are not always moving in the same direction, and tax policy was one area where many voters appear to have sent in a split ticket on the federal and state level in the 2020 election. On the federal side, a likely Biden victory means a new administration will hold the veto pen...
Nebraska’s 2020 election results are in and Initiative #431 passed, allowing the state to levy a 20% tax on all gross gaming revenue generated within licensed racetracks. Along with companion ballot measures approving expanded gambling, this means slot machines and table gambling will be allowed along with their respective regulations. The licensed horse racetracks in...
A new study from Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Liberty (CSEL) focuses on the “regulatory capture” of cosmetology licensing boards around the country. It shows the Nebraska cosmetology board ranked in the middle of the 34-place pack (multiple states are tied for ranks). Regulatory capture in occupational licensing refers to the...
A lawsuit over city ordinances imposed on home bakers and cottage food producers in Lincoln can move forward. Lancaster County District Court Judge John A. Colborn rejected the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed by area home baker Cindy Harper earlier this year. The city had shut down Harper’s home-based baking operation,...
A typical zoning hearing in Grand Island shows some of the challenges Nebraska faces in addressing its housing shortage. People will acknowledge more housing is needed, but many current homeowners don’t want new housing to be located near their properties, particularly if it requires changes in zoning that alters the type or style of housing...