An unsung hero in state government
Sometimes, the unsung heroes fighting for good government can come from within government itself.
A long-time Nebraska state employee found a hobby for himself. Each year, throughout the decades of his career, he would visit the legislative library in the Nebraska State Capitol and take note of the year’s increases in state spending. As he reached his retirement years and left for Florida, he still continued to track the data online.
Two years ago, after reading a column on state spending by Platte Institute for Economic Research Policy Director Sarah Curry, this dedicated public servant decided he had finally found someone to share his project with. The spreadsheet he had maintained kept track of 50 years of state government finances. The information showed changes in spending from when Nebraska first imposed an income and sales tax in the late 1960s, and the increase in federal spending in the state budget associated with the “Great Society” programs.
With the help of current state budget office staff, Curry was able to confirm the data and adjust the figures for population and inflation over the years. These results became the basis for the Platte Institute’s latest report “Trends in Nebraska State Spending.” In the report, Curry shows how despite a downturn in the state’s agricultural economy, total state government spending in Nebraska is at an all-time high, reaching over $6,000 per person in 2017. Thanks to this data, numerous measures of state spending are now available for taxpayers and officials to review here.
