75 Million

OpenSky continues to monitor proposed cuts to Medicaid, a joint program between federal and state governments that provides health insurance coverage to more than 75 million people nationwide. The program, which is the single largest insurer in the country, finances about 42% of all births in the country, and pays for the care of 63% of nursing home residents. The program has been floated consistently as a target to recoup funds needed to pay for a permanent expansion of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 

Forty states, including Nebraska, have opted in to Medicaid expansion programs and drawn down federal funds that help bolster the health care system. Several states, however, have provisions that allow them to end their expansions if the federal reimbursement rate dips below a certain level. Other proposals to curtail costs include limiting access to the program for immigrants, establishing lifetime limits on the program, or creating a federal work requirement for participants, an idea that has been blocked in federal courts. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who analyzed work requirements implemented in Arkansas, found “no evidence that the policy succeeded in its stated goal of promoting work and instead found substantial evidence of harm to health care coverage and access.” The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities warns that 36 million people, the majority of whom are actively working, could lose health care coverage due to administrative burden or lack of awareness of the policies. 

State policymakers in Nebraska and beyond are watching closely, as maintaining Medicaid coverage without federal reimbursement would be unsustainable.

$31 billion

In the final hours of 2024, the Senate voted 85 to 11 to pass a bill that avoided a government shutdown and extended the 2018 Farm Bill for a second time. The bill included $31 billion in relief for agricultural producers, including $21 billion for aid to recover from natural disasters such as hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and widespread drought. The remaining $10 billion is specifically for economic aid in response to the perilous financial situation in farm country, particularly for row crop farmers. 

Not included in the extension was a provision to allow year-round 15% ethanol blends across the country. Currently, only 8 states, including Nebraska and many neighboring states, allow year-round sales, which are restricted elsewhere by the Environmental Protection Agency over air quality concerns. The gasoline additive consumes about 40% of America’s corn crop annually, and each percentage point of higher ethanol blend nationally equates to about 1.4 billion gallons.

Among the sticking points that have caused a second delay in passage of a new Farm Bill is a debate about baseline calculations and requirements for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a critical anti-hunger program nationwide. In Nebraska, 155,000 residents relied on SNAP programs in 2024, and more than 68% of participants were families with children, according to analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

715

The 109th Legislature has introduced a total of 715 bills and 29 legislative resolutions as bill introduction concluded on Wednesday. This is the first series of bills introduced under the body’s self-imposed limit of 20 bills per senator. Standing committee hearings also began Wednesday, and will continue until each bill has a public hearing in the appropriate committee.