-
Headlines : Minnesota, Colorado, California, Maryland, Ohio, Nebraska, Louisiana, Massachusetts
States' Rift on Taxes Widens
Minnesota's move to raise $2.1 billion in new taxes, largely from the wealthy, to fund government programs puts it among a handful of states controlled by Democrats that are adopting more liberal fiscal policies at a time when many Republican-dominated statehouses are pushing to cut taxes.
-
Headlines
Rich States, Poor States, 6th Edition
This 6th edition of Rich States, Poor States contains invaluable insight into each of the 50 "laboratories of democracy." With solid empirical research and the latest data on state economies, the evidence is clear on which state tax and fiscal policies directly lead to more opportunities, more jobs, and more prosperity for all Americans.
-
Headlines : Nebraska
Omaha think tank: State, city underestimating pension liabilities
According to the report, it's unreasonable for public pension plans to assume an 8-percent rate of return when many economists project lower returns in the future.
-
Headlines
Ex-Penn State president tops highest paid list
Presidents of public universities are taking home bigger paychecks, and a growing number are raking in more than $1 million.
-
Headlines : Nebraska
Biggest piece of $7.8B state budget bill passes, ending 16 hours of debate
With no dissenting votes, Nebraska lawmakers on Thursday advanced the biggest pieces of the $7.8 billion, two-year state budget package.
- View All News Stories
Budget timeframe: Biennial
Fiscal Year begins: July 1
The current state budget can be found here and the FY2012-13 budget adjustments can be found here.
Find the legislative session calendar here.
Find the current legislative leaders here.
Gov. Dave Heineman
Office of Governor Dave Heineman
P.O. Box 94848
Lincoln, NE 68509-4848
Phone: (402) 471-2244
Fax: (402) 471-6031
http://www.governor.nebraska.gov/
Gerry Oligmueller, Director
Budget Division - Department of Administrative Services
State Capitol, Room 1320
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone (402) 471-2526
Fax (402) 471-4157
www.budget.state.ne.us
Gerry.Oligmueller@nebraska.gov
Want a more robust, long-term look at your state's fiscal health, beyond the budget? There are two parts: Click here for the FY2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government, and click here for information on the state's pension liabilities.
Nebraska's "balanced budget" requirement comes in the form of a limit the issuance of debt. Article 13, Section 1 of the 1875 Constitution says the State may not contract debts greater than $100,000. Nebraska law forbids the carrying over of a deficit from one year to the next. In spite of this law, budget deficits (negative net transactions) were reported on the State's Budgetary Comparison Schedules within the last three years' annual reports.
The State of Nebraska's governmental funds include five major funds: the General Fund, the Highway Fund, the Federal Fund, the Health and Social Services Fund and the Permanent School Fund. Non-major special revenue, capital project and other permanent funds are also included in the governmental funds. [from the Institute for Truth in Accounting]
Find the state's bond ratings here.
|
|
 |
Pensions :
-
HEADLINES: Nebraska
Omaha think tank: State, city underestimating pension liabilities
According to the report, it's unreasonable for public pension plans to assume an 8-percent rate of return when many economists project lower returns in the future.
-
HEADLINES
GAO finds growing state, local fiscal gap with Medicaid to blame
Closing the gap to achieve fiscal balance over 50 years will require "action to be taken today and maintained for each year equivalent to a 14.2 percent reduction in the state and local government sector's current expenditures."
- View All Nebraska articles
K-12 Education :
-
HEADLINES: Nebraska
State budget debate begins but school aid compromise still stings
The chairman of the Appropriations Committee said it worked to fund the state's priorities and recognized the need to maintain a healthy rainy day fund, or cash reserve balance.
-
RESEARCH
The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America's Public Schools, Part II
Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers' numbers increased 252 percent, while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students.
- View All Nebraska articles
-
Solutions:
How Reality-Based Budgeting Can Permanently Resolve State Budget Gaps
State Budget Solutions recommends that state legislators take action in 2013 to resolve the serious state financial crises by changing their focus from inputs to outcomes by redesigning budgets from the ground up based on priorities and performance.
-
Solutions:
How to Prevent Future Pension Crises
The time for state and local governments to offer defined contribution retirement plans that protect both taxpayer dollars and public employee retirement security is now.
-
Solutions:
State Lawmaker’s Guide to Evaluating Medicaid Expansion Projections
Supporters of Obamacare claim that expanding Medicaid will entail little to no cost to state governments, since the federal government will fund the vast majority of the additional costs. Indeed, some analyses project states achieving savings from adopting the expansion. However, state lawmakers should be wary of accepting such analyses at face value.
-
Solutions:
Medicaid Is Broken—Let the States Fix It
Block-granting Medicaid is the best way to deliver better, cost-effective care to the most vulnerable Americans.
-
Solutions:
The Case for Reform: Prisons
Prisons are supremely important, but they are also a supremely expensive government program, and thus prison systems must be held to the highest standards of accountability.
- View All Solutions
-
Nebraska
Omaha think tank: State, city underestimating pension liabilities
According to the report, it's unreasonable for public pension plans to assume an 8-percent rate of return when many economists project lower returns in the future.
-
State Pension Litigation Update, May 2013
In attempts to reign in the costs of pensions, state lawmakers legislate pension reform. Challengers to those reforms often bring suit, alleging violations of state law, contracts, and the Constitution.
-
GAO finds growing state, local fiscal gap with Medicaid to blame
Closing the gap to achieve fiscal balance over 50 years will require "action to be taken today and maintained for each year equivalent to a 14.2 percent reduction in the state and local government sector's current expenditures."
-
In Congress, a Bill Seeks to Tie Municipal Borrowing Power to Public Pension Disclosure
Representatives from California and two other states introduced a bill in Congress on Thursday that would strip states and cities of their right to issue tax-exempt bonds unless they first disclosed the true cost of their pension plans and whether they could pay it.
-
States move along different roads to tackle underfunding dilemma
More states are enacting measures to help improve the solvency of their public pension funds as funding ratios remain low.
- View All Pensions
-
BLOG: Higher Education, Spending
Who is the highest paid state employee in your state?
Time to add a new diagram to the state budget and policy playbook--your state's highest paid employee is probably a football or basketball coach.
-
BLOG: Medicaid
Medicaid expansion won't yield quality health care
The bombshell Oregon Medicaid study released this week should give all states pause as they consider plans to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. States must now ask what the point of Medicaid is in the first place.
-
BLOG: Medicaid, Federal Government Impact, Federal Government Impact
Catch-22 in the Cornhusker State with federal Medicaid dollars
-
BLOG: Budget Gimmicks, Budget Processes and Systems, Measures to Balance Budgets, Spending, State Debt
Let's Put Privatizing Municipal Services Back on the Table
-
BLOG: Unions
Airing Out the Smoke-filled Rooms: Bringing Transparency to Public Union Collective Bargaining
To help prevent union strong-arming that fleeces taxpayers, we should know precisely what public union officials are demanding and what government employers are offering in any collective negotiation about employment terms and conditions.
- View All Commentary
