At OpenSky, we prioritize data and evidence to ensure our work is a credible, unbiased and reliable resource for policymakers, media and all Nebraskans.
Our primers aim to provide an overview of the issues important to creating fair and just outcomes for everyone.
“A Healthy Nebraska,” updated in 2023, provides an overview of Medicaid and CHIP funding in Nebraska.
“Taking Ownership,” released in 2023, explores the history of property taxes in Nebraska with information on the valuation process, how revenues are distributed and efforts the state has made to lower property taxes.
“Investing In Our Future,” updated in 2025, explores how Nebraska has paid for K-12 education in the past, how it does so now and discusses the perceived inequities of our current system.
“Sustaining the Good Life,” updated in 2025, examines the use and funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in our state.
Keep tabs on policy changes under consideration as the Nebraska Legislature meets each year.
Using census data, OpenSky produced fact sheets showing the diversity among Nebraska’s 49 legislative districts.
OpenSky compiled profiles of Nebraska’s public school districts to help taxpayers to better understand education funding.
Learn about proposal to replace most state and local taxes with a single tax on consumption.
Learn about proposals for taxpayer-funded scholarship programs that threaten funding for public schools.
$218 million As OpenSky Policy Institute previously reported, Nebraska was awarded $218 million from the federal government in the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program, established as part of H.R. 1, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Nebraska’s application outlined seven different areas of focus for the program, including healthy food […]
650% The Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee began hearings on the mid-biennial budget adjustments this week. The mainline budget bills, LB 1071 and LB 1072, received significant pushback from Nebraskans. Among them was OpenSky Policy Institute’s Research Director, Craig Beck, who raised concerns about the growth of cash fund sweeps and “transfers out” in recent years. […]
$120 million H.R. 1 also made significant changes to states’ ability to collect revenue via Medicaid Provider Taxes, including prohibiting any new taxes and decreasing the value of existing ones for states like Nebraska, where Medicaid expansion has been adopted. Nebraska, like all other states but Alaska, utilizes provider taxes to fund the non-federal portion […]
$152.4 million Governor Jim Pillen released his budget proposal last week, which includes a total of $495 million in spending cuts over the next two fiscal years. The largest share of the proposed cuts are from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), to which the Governor proposed $22 million in cuts this fiscal […]
27% KFF, the health policy think tank, indicates that 27% of agricultural sector employees buy health care plans on state marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), compared with just 6% of the adult population with non-group coverage. As a result, agricultural workers are among the highest users of state marketplaces for health insurance. […]
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Resources At OpenSky, we prioritize data and evidence to ensure our work is a credible, unbiased and reliable resource for policymakers, media and all Nebraskans. Primers Our primers aim to provide an overview of the issues important to creating fair and just outcomes for everyone. Medicaid “A Healthy Nebraska,” updated
