1 in 5
Today is National EITC Awareness Day, a chance to remind eligible workers of the Earned Income Tax Credit. The IRS has found that 1 in 5 eligible people do not claim the EITC, and EITC Awareness Day is a chance to direct attention to opportunities for free tax filing assistance. Eligibility is based on income, whether you are married and the number of children. Anyone with earnings of $63,398 or less should see if they qualify.
The EITC provided 23 million workers and families nationwide with more than $57 billion in credits on their 2022 returns. In Nebraska, 108,000 people with low and moderate incomes earned federal tax credits averaging $2,421, money that serves as essentially an increase in wages to spend on basic needs like food, shelter, clothing or utilities.
In addition, Nebraska is among 31 states to offer a state-level EITC to those who earn the federal credit. A bill (LB 1182) would increase Nebraska’s state-level EITC from 10% to 20% beginning in 2025.
Register for tax assistance through Tax Credit Alliance of Nebraska
$350 million
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed in 2021 provided $350 billion to states and cities, money that could be spent through 2026 to address economic and public health challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Nebraska, the Legislature in 2022 allocated $1.04 billion of ARPA funds and it continues to refine its plan this year, with the potential for a significant re-allocation of funding to transportation projects.
Join OpenSky for a webinar at noon on Wednesday, January 31, with researchers from The Pew Charitable Trusts who will review how the decisions that states made in spending ARPA funds could contribute to – or reduce the risk of – future imbalances in state budgets.
Register for webinar on state uses of pandemic aid
40%
The Governor has committed to reducing property taxes levied by cities, counties and political subdivisions by 40% with some of the lost revenue to be replaced through sales taxes.
Several proposals scheduled for legislative committee hearings next week appear to be part of the Governor’s plan and surround revenue caps and levy restrictions on local political subdivisions and a number of bills targeting the elimination of some existing sales tax exemptions.
Next week, OpenSky plans to share its research and analysis on nearly two dozen bills related to not only the Governor’s proposal, but also budget-related bills and legislation relating to the health and nutrition of all Nebraskans. A breakdown:
- Agriculture Committee: LB 1116
- Appropriations Committee: LBs 1412, 1413
- Education Committee: LB 1386
- Executive Board: LB 1286
- Health and Human Services Committee: LBs 905, 913, 952, 1087
- Revenue Committee: LBs 1218, 1241, 1248, 1308, 1310, 1311, 1316, 1317, 1318, 1319, 1345, 1349, 1354, 1356, 1414, 1415
Number crunching
- 180 million: The number of mini liquor bottles, known as nips, sold in Connecticut in the two years since legislators approved a 5-cent surcharge to be used by cities and municipalities for environmental cleanup. That surcharge has returned $8.9 million.
- 21.3 million: The number of people across the U.S. who selected a marketplace health insurance plan in 2024, a 30% increase over last year. The record-setting marketplace enrollment coincides with a period of unprecedented Medicaid coverage loss nationwide.
Welcome Emily!
Join us in welcoming Emily Erickson, a senior at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, to OpenSky as a spring semester intern seeking to further her knowledge of the legislative system in Nebraska and to increase her understanding of how policy contributes to public health practice and its implementation. A graduate of Boone Central High School, Emily is interested in becoming an epidemiologist and in doing community-based research.