Ahead of the 2024 legislative session, Dr. Rebecca Firestone listed priorities for OpenSky Policy Institute in an Op-Ed published in the Omaha World-Herald. "As we embark on the 2024 legislative session," Firestone [...]
2% In a future of fewer births and more deaths across an aging population, immigration will play a major role in whether the United States grows or declines over future years. [...]
Revenue reductions enacted by Nebraska lawmakers in recent years rank among the deepest cuts in the nation, shifting billions in public funds away from key investments and toward tax cuts. Personal and [...]
8 In research aimed at ensuring that state budget decisions are based on evidence, and not educated guesses, Pew Charitable Trusts found that lawmakers in just eight states have access to two [...]
$8 million Projections by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board last week offered only minor changes to the forecasts that the governor and the Legislature use in formulating state spending. Even as [...]
Understanding the history of a place is important in evaluating steps to move forward, and some of the modern-day advantages in Nebraska can be traced back to programs like the Homestead Act [...]
2.6% Since the start of 2020, Nebraska brought in more tax revenue than it would have collected under its pre-pandemic growth rate, but the state’s growth in revenues trailed the national average. [...]
13.4% The latest assessment of poverty in America offered another reminder of the importance of policy choices in providing positive effects for generations to come. Census data show the nation’s child poverty [...]
55.6% When costs surrounding a school improvement project approved by voters in 2022 escalated, the locally-elected school board of Heartland Community Schools discussed this with their community and approved a financing plan [...]
After repeated attempts to pass school privatization measures had failed, Nebraska lawmakers in 2023 approved LB 753, which creates dollar-for-dollar tax credits totaling up to $100 million for donations to organizations granting [...]