$1.1 billion
Iowa legislators will navigate a $1.1 billion budget shortage when they convene in January, largely driven by an aggressive income tax cut and a school voucher program that has eclipsed initial budget estimates. The 3.8% flat tax stands to benefit the wealthiest Iowans far more than low and middle-income families, according to analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. They warn that millionaires in Iowa will see an average tax cut of $23,471, while households earning under $20,000 will receive just $24 on average — a disparity of over 900 times.
Without identifying another revenue stream, low-income Iowa children and families may bear the brunt of the shortage, as the most significant expenditures per capita are in public welfare and K-12 education.
$82.7 million
Watching trends in urban policy, downtown revitalization is taking place in several cities across the country in the coming years. The Pennsylvania governor’s office will invest $62.6 million and the city of Pittsburgh will chip in another $22.1 million in their downtown area, totaling $82.7 million in invesments which are expected to spur an additional $600 million in total investment from private industry, and foundations. A broad coalition including organized labor, health care, professional sports teams, and the arts community have pledged support or development projects as well. The city has reported that its urban center has only recovered about 70% of the pre-pandemic workforce, leaving millions of square feet of office space available for alternate use. A targeted program designed to spur conversion of office buildings to affordable housing if 20% of the units to households at or below 80% of area median income, with increasing incentives for more affordable units.
The Urban Institute argues that in order for such housing conversions to be successful, a holistic approach must be utilized. They advocate for cultural and arts districts and innovation hubs, driving visitors and bolstering small business while increasing the quality of life for residents.
21%
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, on average, public schools reported having six teaching vacancies and filling 79% of those before classes resumed this school year, leaving 21% of positions vacant. Special education positions remained the most difficult to fill, including support positions in transportation, intervention and paraprofessionals, all of which are critical to the student experience.
This is particularly concerning considering the number of students qualifying for special education services increasing steadily over time while the number of students enrolling in teacher training programs for special education has declined. According to the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School, about 46,000 special education teachers leave public schools every year, while teacher preparation programs are training fewer than 30,000 new ones to replace them.
Many states have implemented a variety of financial incentives to attract interest to special education roles, with varying degrees of success. Nebraska legislators implemented a more general teacher apprenticeship program in 2023 with the passage of LB 705, allocating $1 million to the program, which was met with an additional $6 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Labor earlier this month.
38%
This week, OpenSky testified at an interim study hearing to examine the Medicaid unwinding process in Nebraska, which required states to verify eligibility for recipients who had been allowed to stay on the rolls during the pandemic. OpenSky’s testimony focused on improvements to Nebraska’s automated renewal process (ex parte renewal), which requires the state to attempt to utilize available data to verify eligibility, before requiring recipients to fill out a renewal form. Ex parte renewal processes have been shown to promote continuity of care, reduce costs, and lessen the administrative burden on both enrollees and the state by decreasing the amount of paperwork that must be completed and processed.
During the unwind process, Nebraska utilized ex parte renewals for about 30% of enrollees who retained their coverage, lower than the 41% average of all states in the US. Since the unwind concluded, Nebraska’s ex parte rate has increased, but still lags behind other states. In August 2024, Nebraska’s rate sat at 38% while thirty states had rates higher than 50% during the same month.
Investments in improving the ex parte process and related systems are useful ways to save money and increase efficiency without compromising the availability, accessibility, or quality of healthcare available to low-income Nebraskans. Since Nebraska’s share of federal Medicaid funding is expected to decrease in the upcoming biennium, improving the cost efficiency of these systems is important.