$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 total receipts lagged projections in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, net receipts from the corporate income tax topped estimates by nearly 24%. The Board raised the state’s revenue forecast for FY24 to $6.445 billion, an increase of $8 million from the prior forecast. In the following year, as recent tax cuts passed by the Legislature continue to phase in, the Board scaled back the forecast by $13 million to $6.365 billion.
Read more from the Omaha World-Herald
$70
People who do important jobs for low pay are integral to our communities but, for many, the Earned Income Tax Credit fails to provide a meaningful increase in wages – or no boost at all.
Since the federal EITC expansion expired after 2021, no working adult without children making more than $17,640 receives a credit. As a result, workers who received a $980 credit during expansion now receive just $70 to help pay rent, buy groceries or cover transportation costs to and from work. Nebraska is one of 31 states that offers a state EITC, but it’s limited to those receiving the federal credit.
Read more from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
40%
TMCO, the family-owned Lincoln business named “Manufacturer of the Year,” employs about 230 people, and 40% are refugees or immigrants.
To help in addressing the workforce challenge facing Nebraska employers, TMCO reimburses 60% of child care costs for employees. Company officials – noting “that without child care, our economy is in trouble” – confirmed plans to add an on-site child care center as part of future expansion.
View panel discussion from OpenSky’s Fall Policy Symposium
$688 billion
Why was last year’s boost to IRS funding so important? The latest figures show the difference between what Americans paid and owed in taxes grew to $688 billion in 2021. More money is necessary for the IRS to heighten enforcement and bring in more of what’s owed to the federal government each year.
Additional funding is critical to closing the tax gap and generating revenue not by raising taxes but enforcing the existing tax laws. The Inflation Reduction Act invested $79 billion in new IRS funding, $21 billion of which was pulled back as part of this year’s debt limit deal. Now House Republicans want to rescind the rest, which Groundwork Action estimates would enable $1.1 trillion in tax avoidance.
Read more from Groundwork Action
30%
Nebraska received $56.6 million a year from the federal government for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families but is using only 30% of available funds for direct aid, senators were told at an Appropriations Committee hearing last week.
Because Nebraska has not spent the full amount it received from the federal government in recent years, a reserve fund has grown to $126 million. Plans for the state Department of Health and Human Services to spend down those funds include grants to food banks and programs for foster kids and pregnant and parenting teens. Three proposals in the Legislature – LB 233, LB 290 and LB 310 – would target more direct aid to needy families through Aid to Dependent Children assistance.