Voices for Children in Nebraska

  Last week, the Nebraska State Legislature adjourned for the year.  Before adjournment, lawmakers introduced interim studies on issues that they plan to take a closer look at between now and next year.   One such study, LR 206, will look at the school breakfast program in Nebraska and potential ways to increase participation. Research [...]

In 2011, about 2,000 kids dropped out of Nebraska high schools.   Also in 2011, a staggering 64% of Nebraska third graders weren’t reading at grade level.  What do these two things have to do with each other?  More and more research has found that the line that kids cross — or don’t cross — in [...]

Kids are especially vulnerable during their first five years of life and this is also a time when research has concluded that significant and important brain development occurs.  The caregivers that children have during this time are important for keeping kids safe and the interactions that they have with kids can have a significant impact [...]

Nebraska’s kids need your voice!  Today, the state legislature will consider one of the most critical investments we can make in kids this year.  Child care is critical to ensuring that kids are safe and parents can work.  The child care subsidy program helps working parents access licensed care that would otherwise be unaffordable. In [...]

Today’s title comes courtesy of a 1997 Omaha World-Herald Editorial, when Nebraska was considering expanding Medicaid program through what’s known as CHIP, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to cover more low-income children.  The federal government had recently passed legislation to give states the option of covering more kids through Medicaid and promised significant federal [...]

Today is April 15th, the annual deadline to file income taxes.  In the monotony of tax filing, it’s easy to forget that taxes have a purpose.  In the simplest terms, taxes are the collective investment we make in our community that it would be impossible for an individual to make alone. Without taxes, we wouldn’t [...]

As a nation, we spend significantly more on retirees than we spend on children.  In 2011, spending on children accounted for only 10% of our federal budget while 41% was spent on retirees.  Don’t get us wrong — we want Grandma to have access to health care through Medicare — but we need to think [...]

Voices for Children is in opposition to LB 518 which would repeal a bill enacted last year to restore prenatal care for all low-income Nebraska babies.  Research continues to support the fact that prenatal care is both essential to healthy birth outcomes and cost-effective when compared to the cost of treating a baby born with [...]

For the last few days, the legislature has been debating taxes or, to be more precise, they have been debating having a debate about taxes.  The tax talk started earlier this year when Governor Dave Heineman pushed for the introduction of two bills to radically change the state tax structure by eliminating or significantly reducing [...]

March 14, 2013 To: Health and Human Services Committee From: Aubrey Mancuso, Policy Coordinator RE:  Support for LB 330 to increase the gross income limit in the SNAP program   Voices for Children supports LB 330 because it takes steps to improve the SNAP program in a way that encourages steps toward longer term financial [...]