More Work to Do

by Marilyn Moore

I just can’t let it go. The headline on the front page of the Lincoln Journal Star on May 28 was taken from the Governor’s address to the legislature on its last day of the session. It didn’t take long to realize the Governor’s list of more work to do was really about one thing – reducing property taxes, and he wants to do it by placing further restrictions on the budgets of local governments.  Think schools, municipalities, cities, counties….those levels of government that are the very closest to the people they serve, the people who elect them.  

This is not a blog about property taxes.  It’s an issue, I get it.  I’m a homeowner; I own some farmland.  I write checks to the treasurer of the county in which that farm land is located, a county in which I do not live, I cannot vote, and from which I don’t receive much in the way of governmental services. It's my contribution to the overall health of that community, and I'm okay with that.  In comparison to surrounding states, the balance among property taxes, income taxes, and sales taxes is way out of whack. But that’s a blog for another day. 

I was hoping our governor might have been thinking about the work that needs to be done to address critical issues for Nebraskans, but no, that’s not what he was thinking about.  In my mind, I listed those issues, then put it aside, knowing the legislature won’t be back in session for several months.  But the headline stays in my mind…I just can’t let it go.  

I would start by acknowledging that the pandemic and its effects are with us still.  Life is not “back to normal,” whatever that may mean.  The unemployment rate in Nebraska is low…but even with a job, families at the very bottom of the earnings range need support in access to food and access to housing.  Families that experienced months of unemployment experienced a loss of savings, a loss of college nest eggs, an accumulation of debt related to health care, and for many, the still-sharp grief of death, more than 2200 Covid deaths, more than 2200 grieving families.  Whatever federal funds have been allocated to Nebraska to assist with these effects of the pandemic need to be moved quickly, efficiently, and compassionately into the hands of these families.  

High on the list of “work that Nebraska needs to do” is addressing the needs of persons with disabilities, those 3,000 persons who are presently on a “waiting list,” still there because it just wasn’t a priority this year.  A bill that would have provided services to 850 families of developmentally disabled children, that would have allowed those children to continue to live at home, rather than be placed in more expensive out-of-home facilities, failed by filibuster.  More work to do….

One of the things we learned this past year is that our safety net for child care is very fragile.  If school isn’t in session, and children are home, it’s likely that employment for one or both parents is disrupted.  And if employment is disrupted, then needs such as food, utilities, mortgage payments, and medical care can quickly go unmet.  Nebraskans were fortunate, in that most schools were able to be open most of the time for most students during this academic year, due to incredible efforts by teachers, administrators, and all school staff members.  We need to fund schools, and provide related support and expertise, such that any future pandemic does not throw this vital foundation into disarray.  School is the best place, the safest place, for students to be, for their learning and for the community.

Related to education, a game changer for most families would be state provided pre-school for all four-year-olds.  And it would be a game changer for most children, too.  The cognitive, social, and emotional benefits of pre-school are well documented, and this would even the educational access for all families. Investing in our youngest learners is always the best investment; lets invest in four-year-olds.  

A critical issue in our state, as in every state, is the disparity between opportunities and outcomes based on race and ethnicity.  Whether we look at high school graduation, college enrollment, lifetime income, family wealth, home ownership, or any of the health measures we might examine, there is a gap between those who are white and those who are persons of color…and the outcome is always better for persons who are white.  Let’s be a leading state to acknowledge the disparity and make plans and allocate resources to reduce that gap, to assure life’s best opportunities for all Nebraskans.  (An understanding of historic practices and policies that have resulted in these disparities might be helpful….)

Further work to do?  Here are some issues to consider:

• Resisting all efforts to suppress voting.
• Safe working conditions for those who labor in meatpacking plants.
• Making Nebraska a welcoming place for all workers, by making employment discrimination based on sexual identity illegal.
• Access to high-speed broadband internet service in the most sparsely populated areas of Nebraska, just as there is access to telephone and mail service.  We made a start this year; let’s finish the task.
• Climate change.  We just lived through the coldest stretch of February in memory, and this summer will be hotter and drier.  How can we be part of the solution, not part of the problem?

Yes, Governor, I agree there’s more work to do in Nebraska.  My list is just different from yours.

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