$553.5 million As a regular part of the two-year state budget process, Nebraska’s code agencies (state agencies who report directly to the Governor) recently submitted their FY26/FY27 budget requests. This is a [...]
In school buildings across Nebraska this summer, it’s the budget builders and not the students who are doing the complex math. This month, the state provided final numbers on what K-12 districts [...]
Over the past decade, my husband Dick and I have had the great privilege of watching OpenSky Policy Institute grow from multiple vantage points. As a founding board member and the second [...]
Read OpenSky's latest primer to get an overview of Medicaid and CHIP funding in Nebraska.
OpenSky's "Investing in Our Future: An Overview of Nebraska’s Education Funding System" helps break down the complex issue of K-12 funding in Nebraska in order to promote a dialogue on the vital issue of how we pay for our public schools.
LB 461, the tax-cut package put forth by the Revenue Committee, is first and foremost an income tax cut for wealthy Nebraskans and the proposal does little to truly address property tax relief.
Under LB 337, a Nebraskan in the top 1 percent of incomes would would receive an average tax cut of about $5,810 a year; a middle-income earner would receive about $39 annually on average; and the lowest-earning taxpayer would, on average, receive no tax cut.
Nebraska’s economy has demonstrated stable growth over the last decade, outperforming most other states in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per capita, personal income growth per capita, and unemployment. (See sidebar box.) [...]
Lawmakers have enacted several significant tax reductions over the last decade. The reductions have been for all kinds of taxes but most major tax-cut legislation since 2005 has focused on income taxes.
In spite of its gradual implementation, LB 357 would leave future lawmakers with a budget crisis as they inherit a depleted cash reserve and the need to make continuous cuts to vital services like schools and health care.
