Support LB 1324: Adopt the Child Tax Credit Act

Members of the Revenue Committee::

 My name is Garret Swanson, G-A-R-R-E-T S-W-A-N-S-O-N and I am here on behalf of the Holland Children’s Movement, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit 501C4 that strives to fulfill its vision for Nebraska to become a beacon in economic security and opportunity for all children and families, in support of LB 1324.

We commend this Committee and Senator Conrad for working on this legislation. Passing a State-level Child Tax Credit is a great step toward fighting poverty in Nebraska.

Other speakers have and will touch on the social and economic benefits of passing this legislation. For my testimony, I want to touch on recent polling done to gauge what the Second House believes about this issue and related ones. A poll published early this month by our sister organization, the Holland Children’s Institute, offers us some insight.

First, for the first time since the Institute began polling in July of 2019, most Nebraskans believe the state is moving in the wrong direction. With 52% of Nebraskans believing that the state is moving in the wrong direction compared to 39% of Nebraskans believing that the state is moving in the right direction. Second, Nebraskans were asked if the State Government is doing enough to help average-income people and families meet their needs to succeed, 63% of Nebraskans did not believe that the State was doing enough.

Regarding child tax credits directly, Nebraskans were asked several related questions. 62% of Nebraskans support the federal government expanding the Child Tax Credit. Likewise, 62% of Nebraskans supported the State in creating a Child Tax Credit. When asked about LB1324 directly, 72% of Nebraskans supported its passage.

This poll was conducted between January 31 and February 4th and included interviews with 600 Nebraskans. Of those 600, 42% of people self-identified as Conservative, 34% as Moderate, and 14% as Liberal. 53% voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 while 33% said they voted for Joe Biden. I bring this up to clarify that this poll is a representative sample of Nebraskans and their thoughts.

For anyone who wants to see the results of the latest poll for themselves, the whole poll is published at hollandinsitiute.org under the research tab. For your use Senators, I’ve clipped a few samples from the poll and put them on the back of the sheet in front of you. Thank you again to Senator Conrad and this Committee, we urge this bill be voted out of committee.