Voices for Children in Nebraska

As introduced:  This bill attempts to simplify and streamline public benefit requirements by: requiring alignment of verification procedures across various public benefit programs; maintaining legislative oversight over public benefit administration by requiring the collection and reporting of data relating to access to public benefit programs and case closures; coordinating renewals for public benefits by using [...]

As introduced:  This bill would repeal changes enacted in 2011 and set to go into effect in 2013 that allocates a quarter of a cent on every dollar of sales tax revenue for roads projects. Introducing Senator(s): Council Committee: Revenue Committee Committee Hearing Date: February 16, 2012 Current Status: Indefinitely Postponed. Estimated Fiscal Impact:  This [...]

As introduced: The bill would allow state income taxpayers receiving a refund to deposit a portion of the refund directly into an educational savings account. Introducing Senator(s): Cook Committee: Revenue Committee Committee Hearing Date: February 24, 2012 Current Status: Indefinitely Postponed Estimated Fiscal Impact:  A one-time cost of $82,450 in General Funds. Voices for Children [...]

As introduced:  This bill would award one- time grants to fund the start-up costs associated with summer food programs. As amended: The bill prioritizes grants going to high poverty areas. Introducing Senator(s): Wallman (priority) Committee: Education Committee Committee Hearing Date: January 31, 2012 Current Status: Signed into law on April 11, 2012. Estimated Fiscal Impact:  [...]

As introduced:  The individual state income tax would be reduced by lowering current tax rates and expanding current income brackets. The bill would also reduce the current top corporate income tax rate from 7.81% to 6.70% which would match the top individual income tax rate under the proposal. Finally, the bill proposes to repeal the [...]

As introduced: The bill extends the option of having vocational training count as a work activity for participants in the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) Program through December 2016. As amended:  The bill extends vocational training options in ADC and also requires and annual report from the Department of Health and Human Services in December [...]

As introduced: The bill would have required in-person workers in 25 existing state office buildings for a minimum of 40 hours/week to assist with public benefits applications.  The bill would also have required dedicated caseworkers for certain complex cases. As amended: The bill requires that in-person services be available but gives the Department of Health [...]

This bill would allow young adults receiving ADC benefits to count the pursuit of a GED or High School Diploma as a work activity in the ADC program up to the age of 24.  This option would only be permissible as long as the state was otherwise able to maintain compliance with federal work participation [...]

Milo Perkins, the administrator of the first food stamp program in the late 1930s, described the reason for its existence as such:  “We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build [...]

Could you live on $2 a day, with no help at all? This is the case for a growing number of American families with children, according to a new policy brief from the National Poverty Center. More Americans with children are living in extreme poverty at the same time their access to public assistance is [...]