Legislative Summit Podcast: Taxes in Nebraska: What’s Next?
Legislative Summit Podcast: Taxes in Nebraska: What’s Next?
Legislative Summit Podcast: Licensing in a Remote Economy
Legislative Summit Podcast: Licensing in a Remote Economy
Legislative Summit Podcast: Regulatory Reform Roundtable
Legislative Summit Podcast: Regulatory Reform Roundtable
Local government spending dominates Nebraska’s state General Fund
Local government spending dominates Nebraska’s state General Fund
Your local property taxes go to your local community, and your state income and sales taxes pay for state services, right? Sometimes. But did you know that a significant amount of your state taxes are also redistributed back to local governments across Nebraska? According to a new report from the Nebraska Department of Revenue, in...
2019-2020 Nebraska Occupational Licensing Review
2019-2020 Nebraska Occupational Licensing Review
Introduction Much has changed since our 2018 review of Nebraska’s progress on occupational licensing policy and reform. The first year of licensing reviews growing out of LB299, Nebraska’s Occupational Board Reform Act, were completed in 2019. Committees of the Unicameral reviewed 26 individual licenses across eight of the standing committees. Several of the other committees—either...
Platte Institute Virtual Legislative Summit to discuss Nebraska’s “Next Normal”
Platte Institute Virtual Legislative Summit to discuss Nebraska’s “Next Normal”
This year’s Platte Institute Legislative Summit will be held online on Thursday, October 8. You can find free registration at PlatteInstitute.org/Events. The Summit, entitled Nebraska’s Next Normal, will discuss how leaders from different points of view can work together to help Nebraskans rise from the COVID-19 recession. Here’s the schedule of events : At 9 a.m....
Webinar: Talking Tech in the #neleg
Webinar: Talking Tech in the #neleg
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New Jersey’s increasing debt and taxes show Nebraska what not to do
New Jersey’s increasing debt and taxes show Nebraska what not to do
Nebraska has avoided efforts to raise state taxes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and is one of the few states whose revenues grew from the previous year. But states like New Jersey are providing an alternate view into what can happen when policymakers consistently rely on tax increases to paper over their financial...
Nebraska unemployment ranks lowest, approaching pre-pandemic levels
Nebraska unemployment ranks lowest, approaching pre-pandemic levels
Since the start of the pandemic, Americans have wondered when the job market would return to normal. For Nebraska, that time may be now. The Nebraska Department of Labor announced Friday that the state’s unemployment rate currently sits at 4%. That figure is not only the lowest in Nebraska since the beginning of the pandemic...
Disruptions from COVID-19 on Nebraska’s Agriculture
Disruptions from COVID-19 on Nebraska’s Agriculture
Government and industry responses to the COVID-19 pandemic created a variety of unique situations for agriculture. The “stay-at-home” orders forced consumers to be homebound, which increased the demand for food in grocery stores while simultaneously reducing the demand for food in restaurants. Reduced consumer travel caused the demand for ethanol to fall, impacting distillers’ grains,...
Podcast: Sarah Curry discusses COVID-19 funding transparency issues on KGFW’s Talk of the Town
Podcast: Sarah Curry discusses COVID-19 funding transparency issues on KGFW’s Talk of the Town
Sarah Curry joined KGFW’s Talk of the Town to discuss her new report, which reviews the transparency of the state’s tracking website for COVID-19 relief funds. Read the full report here.
What is the fastest growing area in Nebraska’s state budget?
What is the fastest growing area in Nebraska’s state budget?
Nebraska’s state budget is growing, but what area of spending is the largest and growing the fastest? Contrary to what many believe, K-12 education is not the largest expenditure in state government. Health and human services and higher education are larger state spending areas, with the state Department of Education coming in behind these two categories....
Where is the Money Going? Tracking COVID-19 Relief Funds in Nebraska
Where is the Money Going? Tracking COVID-19 Relief Funds in Nebraska
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit our nation, Congress reacted by enacting a historic $2 trillion spending plan to keep our nation from falling into financial ruin. In total, there have been four pieces[1] of federal legislation enacted with the intent to help individuals and states combat the health and economic crisis that occurred, of which...
2020 property tax credits will decline from previous year
2020 property tax credits will decline from previous year
Nebraska’s $275 million property tax credit program is expected to be worth a little less to property owners when they pay their 2020 tax bills. The Nebraska Department of Revenue has released its annual calculation for how much credit taxpayers will receive from the state’s current property tax relief program. For the 2020 tax year,...