17%

From 2020 to 2022, the number of licensed child care facilities in Nebraska dropped by 17%, a decline that contributes to ongoing economic, educational and workforce challenges. The annual Kids Count in Nebraska report notes that 74% of Nebraska’s children under the age of 6 had all available parents in the workforce in 2022, compared to a national average of 68%, yet 32 of Nebraska’s 93 counties lacked facilities to meet the licensed child care needs of even half of the county’s young children.

Where child care is available, the rising cost surpasses the annual cost for tuition and fees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ($10,108). In 2021, the median cost to enroll an infant in a child care center was $11,068. For families with two children under age 5 in child care, the annual cost can exceed $20,000.

A proposal (LB 856) to increase child care worker recruitment and retention by providing them with child care assistance for their own children was scaled back due to cost concerns.

Read the 2023 Kids Count in Nebraska report 

Read more on child care in Nebraska from Flatwater Free Press

$560 million

In 2021, the range of income tax credits on property taxes paid to public schools claimed by taxpayers topped out at 64% in one of Nebraska’s 244 districts, while only 4% were claimed in another. That leaves a significant portion of the $560 million set aside for property tax relief through the so-called “1107 credit” unclaimed.

An amendment to LB 1331, one piece of the Governor’s proposed tax package, would “front load” the refundable income tax credit for school district property taxes paid, meaning the funds would be allocated up front to school districts. Providing the funds up front would lower the property tax owed, thus increasing the transparency of the Legislature’s goal in reducing property tax.

Modeling of the tax package, as originally proposed, showed that for most property owners, the change in property taxes and sales taxes would result in a tax savings. But the bottom-line impact of the tax savings depends on whether a taxpayer currently claims the 1107 credit. Front-loading would lower property taxes paid but eliminate the income tax credit.

Read more on tax package negotiations from Nebraska Examiner

Read annual report of Department of Revenue’s Property Assessment Division

Number crunching

  • 73%: When asked to choose between spending public funds to improve the quality of public schools or appropriating those funds so low-income families can pay for their children to attend private schools, 73% of voters in a nationwide survey supported investment in public schools.
  • 5.3%: Nationwide, participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) increased by 5.3% between FY 21 and FY 23, helping about 332,000 people in an average month. In Nebraska, however, for every 10 births covered by Medicaid in 2022, only 3 pregnant people participated in WIC.
  • 71%: In a recent survey, 71% of U.S. voters said wealthy Americans and big corporations who pay less than their fair share are more responsible for the amount of taxes that they pay than those with lower incomes who don’t pay taxes.