Platte Institute -

Build More Housing: Land Use Reform Opportunities for Nebraska’s Cities

Introduction Across the U.S., local zoning ordinances limit the amount of housing that can be built within their jurisdictions and drive up costs for housing that is permitted. These regulations are particularly burdensome for low-income households.1 The effects of land use regulations on housing costs are largest in high-cost coastal regions, but the ubiquity of...

By Emily Hamilton, Kelcie McKinley

December 16 webinar: Researchers to discuss measurements of prosperity in Nebraska

On December 16, the Platte Institute will host researchers Shaun Flanagan and Ed Wickstead of the Legatum Institute for our latest webinar. You can register at PlatteInstitute.org/Events. The Legatum Institute is based in the United Kingdom and has built a niche in the area of studying relative measures of prosperity between countries and even U.S....

By Adam Weinberg

Licensing recognition can help launch projects like Space Command in Nebraska

This article from the Lincoln Journal Star popped up in my notifications a bit ago, and while the first section talks primarily about COVID-19 response and plans at the University of Nebraska, here’s one excerpt that struck me as the most interesting. Ted Carter, the University of Nebraska president, is also a retired U.S. Navy...

By Laura Ebke

These 8 telehealth changes can permanently increase access to care

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many unreasonable rules that made it difficult for Nebraskans to access health care. With the need for social distancing guidelines, telehealth represented a reasonable means to help prevent transmission of the virus while delivering quality care. Across the country and in Nebraska, governors temporarily repealed telehealth regulations that blocked access to...

By Nicole Fox

Nebraska has 4th highest wireless tax burden in the nation

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...

By Sarah Curry

Nebraska and Iowa groups call for uniform approach to job licensing

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...

By Adam Weinberg

New legislation can welcome workers to Nebraska

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...

By Laura Ebke

Help entrepreneurs find paths to success in the pandemic

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...

By Laura Ebke

Nebraska highways ranked 12th ahead of a less-traveled holiday season

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,...

By Adam Weinberg

Nebraska has low unemployment again, but for how long?

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...

By Adam Weinberg

Local sales tax rates increase in 2021 for some jurisdictions

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...

By Sarah Curry

Nebraska continues strong recovery with budget surplus

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...

By Sarah Curry

What is Nebraska’s likelihood of enacting a tax increase next year?

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...

By Sarah Curry

What do the 2020 elections mean for tax policy?

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...

By Adam Weinberg