Nebraskanomics

Join us on this episode of Nebraskanomics where we welcome Brides to Hope Executive Director Rhonda Mattingly. During the episode Rhonda, Platte Institute CEO Jim Vokal, and Platte Senior Fellow Laura Ebke, dive into the mission of Bridges to Hope, how we are helping support their mission through a micro-grant, and how community partners like Bridges to Hope help enhance Nebraska's workforce.

Join us in this episode of Nebraskanomics as we welcome Jonathan Williams, Chief Economist and EVP for the American Legislative Exchange Council. We dive into the significance of state tax policies and their impact on economic competitiveness. Jonathan shares valuable insights from the Rich State's Poor State's report, a guide ranking the economic outlook of each state. Stay tuned as we discuss the correlation between lower tax burdens and economic growth.

500,000 Nebraskans read The Flatwater Free Press’ weekly report.

Each week, this organization updates their database of government salaries in Nebraska through their Government Transparency Project.Today on Nebraskanomics, I’m joined by Matt Wynn, the executive director of The Flatwater Free Press. Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, Tracking Government Salaries, to learn about their eye opening database.

Stay tuned until the end to learn about new updates to the database and how this impacts government transparency.

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❌People aren’t moving to Nebraska.

From tax year 2019 to 2020, Nebraska ranked 45th for the net percentage of income taxpayers brought from other states by moving.

Idaho added a net of 36,000+ taxpayers (or a 2% boost to its population), while Nebraska lost a net about 4,200 people to migration.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, 4 Ways to Make Nebraska Compete with Anyone, to learn how we can compete with other states to make the Good Life accessible for more people.

Stay tuned until the end to learn how we can imitate the economic success of South Korea’s marketplace.

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The Unicameral is undergoing a great loss of historical knowledge and experience.

There are 16 new state senators, which is nearly one in every three legislative seats.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, A View from Behind the Glass, to hear from three of our staff members who are former Nebraska state senators:

• Jim Smith, Chief Strategy Officer
• Dr. Laura Ebke, Senior Fellow
• Nicole Fox, Director of Government Relations

Stay tuned until the end to learn what is happening in the weeks before the 108th Legislative Session starts that may not be obvious to the average Nebraskan.

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Can you believe that Nebraska is one of the VERY last states in the country to post its own state government meeting videos online for the public to watch?

The Unicameral has to step up its own game when it comes to transparency.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, No More Excuses: Post the Unicameral’s Meeting Videos Online, to discover the three reasons why there is no excuse for senators to wait yet another year to get a state video archive rolling.

Stay tuned until the end, when I'll share the shocking truth about what the leadership from the Legislature and Nebraska Public Media really want.

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Did you know that Nebraska is one of only a FEW states that does not archive video recordings online to make them available to view later?

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, Why Transparent Governments Post Hearings Online, to understand the impact of building a video archive in our policymaking process.

Joining me today is Nicole Fox, Director of Government Relations at The Platte Institute and a former Nebraska State Senator.

Stay tuned until the end, to learn how you can help us pass this important legislation.

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Are you sick of your local government making increases to your property taxes? Thanks to the Truth in Taxation law, constituents can now participate in a process to express their concerns and help protect your household or business finances.

Today, I’m joined by Patrick Bonnett, an elected official who serves on one of many local boards that levy property taxes. He is also the President and CEO of Encore Financial Services, and a member of the Papio Missouri River National Resources District Board.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, Nebraska Property Taxes and Your Pocketbook, as we discuss:

1. Why property taxes can be increased, even if local boards don't raise tax rates. (1:46)
2. What’s unique about Nebraska's property tax situation. (5:39)
3. Advice to taxpayers about their opportunity to serve on elected boards. (9:46)

Stay tuned until the end to discover a free way we can equip you to keep local property taxes in check.

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Want a say in how your property taxes are decided? Participate in a Truth in Taxation hearing. Every year in September, Nebraska's Truth in Taxation law requires cities, counties, school districts, and community college districts to directly notify taxpayers about proposed major property tax increases and hold public hearings where taxpayers can express their views about property taxes in their community.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, Make Nebraska property taxes honest with Truth in Taxation, to learn: 1) Why Nebraska created a Truth in Taxation law, 2) What the Truth in Taxation process will involve every September, and 3) How Nebraskans can use Truth in Taxation to keep property taxes in check. (11:05)

Stay tuned until the end, when I'll share how you can receive free Truth in Taxation resources, which will help you stand up for taxpayers in your area.

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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Nebraska communities of all sizes were experiencing housing shortages, and from 2008 to 2018, Nebraska saw the 6th fastest increase in home prices among all states.

That’s why the Blueprint Nebraska economic initiative has set the goal of increasing the housing supply and making our state a national leader for housing affordability.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, 3 Building Blocks for More Housing in Nebraska. In this episode, we’re joined by policy experts and leaders to discuss the following agenda.

1. Reducing regulatory barriers to building more affordable housing. (2:52)
2. Helping more Nebraskans invest in housing. (10:00)
3. Creating opportunities for builders in Nebraska. (13:44)

How can these changes allow our communities to become even more desirable and attainable places for people to live? Tune in to find out.

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In 46 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, lawmakers provide an online recording archive of their legislative proceedings.

Nebraska is one of just a handful of states that isn’t offering this resource.

I’m tempted to say this is such an obvious error, that almost everybody would agree this situation should be changed. But our state has had the technology to make these recordings available to Nebraskans for quite some time, and it hasn’t proactively happened on its own.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, 3 Reasons to Post Nebraska Legislature Videos Online. In this episode, I’m urging the Unicameral to join the rest of the country in posting its recordings online for everyone to see and share for the following reasons.

1. Nebraskans have no idea what’s going on. (3:32)
2. Withholding legislative videos deprives Nebraskans and their leaders of history and institutional knowledge. (8:48)
3. The state legislative process provides an alternative to nationalized political debate. (11:39)

Concerned Nebraskans can’t let up on this issue until the job is done.

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Many different groups of Nebraskans have been trying to tell their leaders they’re not happy with the current approach to taxes.

This unhappiness stems not merely from the cost of taxes, but from the way the tax system impacts our ability to succeed in Nebraska and grow the state.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, 4 Smart Ways Blueprint Nebraska Fixes Our Tax System.

In this episode, you’ll learn how we can fix our tax system through Blueprint Nebraska’s tax modernization framework by…

1. Bringing people together to create a plan for and by Nebraskans. (2:03)
2. Making Nebraska’s tax system much more competitive without reducing our current strengths. (8:35)
3. Replacing incentive policies with student loan relief and support for research & development. (11:43)
4. Taxing the wealthiest Nebraskans in ways both progressives and conservatives can support. (15:37)

Let’s modernize Nebraska’s tax policies and become the best state in the region for the next century of economic opportunities.

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What needs to change to make Nebraska a more attractive place to live, work, start a business, invest for the future, and put down roots?

This is what Blueprint Nebraska aims to solve.

Most people take for granted that the sales tax is the tax we pay when we buy things. But if you look carefully at your receipts, you’ll begin to notice most of the things you buy in Nebraska don’t have sales tax collected on them. This is also known as a sales tax exemption.

On one hand, you might say “hey, that’s great, one place I’m finally getting a tax break.” On the other hand, Nebraska has many other high tax rates, and complex taxes that other states just don’t have.

In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, about 58% of Nebraska’s state general fund revenue came from income taxes, while 38% was sales tax. That’s a difference of just under $1 billion. On top of that, Nebraska local governments levy $4.5 billion in local property taxes annually.

Sales tax exemptions contribute to these problems, putting higher taxes on our workforce, housing, and investing in Nebraska.

Tune into the latest episode of Nebraskanomics, Making Cents: Why Nebraska Should Modernize the Sales Tax, Part 1.

In this episode, I’m going to discuss the reasons why Nebraska should modernize its sales tax so that there are fewer exemptions and more options for removing barriers in Nebraska’s tax system. There are actually more reasons than I have time to share with you on a single episode of Nebraskanomics, so this will be a two-part series.

Here are the three reasons we’ll discuss on this episode:

1. A modernized sales tax makes more sense than the tax system we have now. (02:20)
2. As times and technologies change, so should our sales tax base. (06:43)
3. Virtually all tax and economic policy experts agree with the principles of sales tax modernization. (10:14)

But even though there is broad agreement on these principles, that doesn’t mean tax experts agree on what should be done with the money the sales tax raises. Tune in to our next episode, where I’ll discuss how sales tax modernization can help Nebraska have a better tax system that is simple, sustainable, and supports economic growth.

Click to listen to the episode.

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