In this morning’s Omaha World-Herald, OpenSky Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Firestone writes that when it came to getting money into the hands of everyday Nebraskans who need it coming out of the pandemic, the Legislature’s actions this session didn’t match the rhetoric espoused by many.
With $1.04 billion in federal relief dollars at their fingertips plus a large budget surplus, policymakers came into the session with an unprecedented opportunity to enact powerful policies that would improve the health and wellbeing of everyday Nebraskans, Firestone noted.
And many in the body spent considerable time during the session talking about the need to get money back to Nebraskans.
“But rather than invest in a broad array of proposals that would have immediately helped everyday Nebraskans, including measures to provide direct payments to residents and lower taxes for middle-income earners, the Legislature prioritized a bill that promises major future tax breaks for the wealthy, property owners and out-of-state corporations,” Firestone wrote.
In fact, the needs of everyday Nebraskans were often leveraged during the session to ensure the tax package passed, Firestone wrote. She also noted that policymakers left $275 million in surplus dollars sitting on the table that could have been used to provide relief for Nebraskans now.
You can read the full opinion piece here.
Save the date for our Fall Policy Symposium
OpenSky’s 2022 Fall Policy Symposium will be held on Thursday, Sept. 22 at Innovation Campus in Lincoln. Times, program details and registration information will be announced in the coming months.