Nebraska’s 2020 legislative session ended on August 13. In looking through the multiple occupational licensing reform bills that were signed into law just this year, Laura Ebke and I couldn’t help but notice how great of an impact the Platte Institute’s campaign for job licensing reform has had since we first supported a bill eliminating the...
If you’ve traveled into an airport of any size in the last few years, the chances are that as you waited for a cab or airport shuttle, you’ve also seen lines of Ubers or Lyfts—vehicles and drivers part of the “ridesharing” economy. Or perhaps you’ve learned to use these services to get where you need...
Following an uptick in unemployment in June, Nebraska’s preliminary July unemployment rate fell to the second-lowest in the country, but the jobless figure is still at historically elevated levels for the state. While any almost any state would be happy to trade places with Nebraska, the July unemployment rate of 4.8% is closer to the...
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.
It would appear that lawmakers around the country haven’t gotten the word that more regulation doesn’t help the economy. Take for instance this legislation (sent to me via this link today) moving through the New York Assembly. While it doesn’t appear that the legislation is moving quickly, one has to wonder what motivates the introduction...
It’s no secret that many Nebraska businesses are hurting as a result of forced shutdowns during the pandemic. But a bill set for Select File debate this week would add insult to injury for a number of small businesses that were required to close this year. LB607 is a bill that proposes to redefine what...
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...
The Nebraska Legislature has given first-round approval to a bill that would require large and medium-sized Nebraska cities to take more action to reduce barriers to affordable housing options. Sen. Justin Wayne’s Legislative Bill 866 advanced on a 28-5 vote and contains provisions of Sen. Matt Hansen’s LB794, also known as the Missing Middle Housing...