Consumption tax conversation overdue
Consumption tax conversation overdue
Politicians have to back up their promises with a stable base of revenue.
Politicians have to back up their promises with a stable base of revenue.
This op-ed, posted recently in The Hill, suggests that licensing is not just about reducing “red tape”–it’s also about giving people real opportunities to lift themselves from poverty. Licensing laws are barriers that can put your dreams on hold for years. They also make us less safe. Individuals who have made mistakes in the past,...
Read the Omaha World-Herald's latest editorial on the Platte Institute's licensing reform efforts.
An article published by Reason Magazine today points out the insidious nature of many states’ occupational licensing frameworks. The Hillsbourough County Sheriff’s office conducted a 9-month “sting” operation, which resulted in the arrest of 118 men and women. The sting, according to Patch, saw sheriff’s deputies pose as homeowners seeking handymen on social media to do jobs...
When I was running for the Legislature (both times), property taxes where high on peoples’ minds. I tried to listen to their concerns, and some comments I heard while watching the legislative coverage several days ago (and then again today) reminded me of some of the things that I’d heard, and the difficulty that I...
A Nebraska transportation law is explicitly designed to strangle competition.
Jim Vokal joined Chris Baker to talk about LR300CA.
Senator Steve Erdman dropped a surprise in the hopper on the last day of bill introduction. And his surprise is designed to decrease the “shakedown effect” that many Nebraskans feel when it comes time to pay property and income taxes. LB300CA–a proposal for a “Constitutional amendment to prohibit all forms of taxation other than a...
We have a right to earn an honest living. This right is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Entrepreneurship and good old-fashioned free market competition are playing a lot of defense nowadays. Protectionism has gone unchecked due to the significant increase in career paths subject to occupational licensing. These occupational licenses are often barriers to...
A new report covers a lot of ground on Nebraska's property tax problems.
John Stossel describes some of the problems with occupational licensing and the opportunity to "make good" for those who have had problems with the law. Nebraska's Occupational Board Review Act (LB 299, 2018), did not totally eliminate restrictions for licensures, but it now gives potential license-seekers the ability to pre-inquire about whether anything in their...
Nebraska state tax receipts exceeded projections in December 2019.
While most of us wouldn’t argue that some occupations in the medical field shouldn’t be regulated in some way, one of the arguments that I often make when engaged in discussions about the need for occupational licensing is that in the 21st century, the more important consumer standard for whether you use a particular service...
There's more than one path to creating a tax system that is simple and sustainable.