$559 million
Next week, the Nebraska Legislature is expected to consider packages of proposed personal and corporate income tax cuts (LB 754) and property tax breaks (LB 243) that combined would impact the state’s General Fund by $559 million over the next two fiscal years, and an additional $1.54 billion in the two years to follow. In commentary published by Route Fifty, authors note the trend in state capitols across the country, including Nebraska, of “pushing big, permanent tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and using temporary budget surpluses to hide the cuts’ true cost.”
Read the Route Fifty commentary
Learn more about proposed income tax cuts in LB 754
$1,750
Minnesota lawmakers are to vote on a negotiated tax package that includes a new state Child Tax Credit of up to $1,750 per dependent. Supporters estimate that the credit could reduce the number of Minnesota children living in poverty by 25%. On Wednesday, May 24, OpenSky Policy Institute Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Firestone will be among the panelists participating in a webinar on how cash assistance policies can enhance child well-being. Since 2021, 14 states have enacted or expanded refundable tax credits.
$3.5 trillion
With negotiations over raising the nation’s debt ceiling featuring proposals for spending cuts, there’s discussion in Washington of making permanent the temporary provisions of the 2017 Trump tax law. That move would add an estimated $3.5 trillion to the deficit, according to new Congressional Budget Office projections.
38%
Federal dollars represented 38% of state revenues in Nebraska in FY 20-21 as pandemic relief aid continued to flow from Washington. As pandemic relief subsides and as senators in Nebraska consider expanding state tax breaks passed just a year ago, over time there are likely to be fewer resources available to fund programs Nebraskans rely upon, including education, workforce development and maintaining roads and bridges.
Welcome Delaney
OpenSky welcomed its summer intern, Delaney Robison, this week. Robison graduated from Valentine High School and is a junior at the University of South Dakota majoring in Political Science with a minor in Nonprofit Studies. Robison is vice president of USD’s Political Science League, a senator for the Student Government Association and a member of the Arts and Sciences Ambassadors Program.