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Olive Crest United Methodist Church
7180 North 60th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68152

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Rev. Debra Tompsett-Welch

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Krusin' the Capitol

By Nebraska State Senator Lowen Kruse

2004
Week 7
February 20, 2004

Hi

The long-promised change of pace has come. Here we have every way to show Nebraska's rank among the 50 states that I and my staff can think of.

Most of the facts are from "Governing," which is an independent magazine that specializes in state legislatures, out of Washinton, D. C. Also, some are from the Tax Research Group. The years vary: 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Various sources sometimes have differing numbers. It is extremely difficult, for example, to get the accurate and complete breakdown of tax figures from county, city and state (every state has a different structure) and then to compare apples to apples.

The number is Nebraska's rank in the 50 states. The items are varied and mostly unrelated, with #1 being the highest number in each case. For example, in the first item Nebraska is #23 from the highest.

Cheers,

Lowen

NEBRASKA IN PERSPECTIVE

Taxes:

All state and local, as the % of personal income#23
All state and local, per capita23
State income taxes, by % of income31
Property taxes, by % of income19
State and local debt, per capita42
Welfare expenditure, per capita23 ($833)
State corrections spending, per capita38 ($101)
Highway spending, per capita15
Taxes paid by retired couple, $60,000 income, living in capitol city10

Health:

Health and hospital spending39
Persons who have health coverage9 (90.7%)
Infant mortality rate27
Pre-term births, per capita23
Low weight births, per capita17
Infant deaths, per capita23
Per capita spending on mental health44
Spent on Medicaid long term care11
Home health care as % of Senior Medicaid23
State payment for mental health, per capita39
% of state $$ spent on community-based mental health45

Education:

Total spending on all education, per capita21
Total spending on K-12, per capita37
Higher education spending, per capita10
Total enrollment in K-1237
K-12 expenditures per pupil, per capita23 ($7,050; National $7,090)
Increase in spending, 1979 to 200128
Classroom costs, per capita44
Average teachers salaries44 ($36,236; National $44,604)
Teachers salaries as % of average BA salary32
K-12 Academic achievement28
SAT composite scores11 (with only 8% taking the test)
SAT cumulative scores9
High School graduation rate6
Reading proficiency in Grade 412
Reading proficiency in Grade 810
Math proficiency in Grade 810
Average math score, Grade 8about 23 (Up from 39)
Number of teachers as % of instructional staff26 (87.7%)
Number of teachers as % of all staff20 (63.6%)
Internet access in homes39
Internet-connected public school computers, per student3 (Wow!)

Economic Development:

Total population38
Economic growth, per capita38
Health status of population16
Median family income26 ($48,843)
Average individual Income23 ($29,771)
% of population below poverty level36 (10.3%)
State lottery sales per capita38 ($43)
Asset/liability ratio in public pension funds33
Average state & local government salary30
Federal "pork" received, per capita46 ($17.42)
Patents issued, per capita40
Cattle raised2
Corn raised3
Soybeans5
Hogs5
All ag products4
Government payment per farm2 ($24,483)
Net farm "profit" per acre32 ($35)
Gross state product, per capita25
Total value of products exported34 ($2.5 Billion)
Unemployment rate47
Average auto insurance premium42 ($649)
Average home insurance premium22 ($467)

Civic:

Police protection spending, per capita45 ($137)
Fire protection spending, per capita33 ($62)
Parks and Recreation spending, per capita32
Violent crime, per capita33
Property crime, per capita21
Incarceration rate, per capita44
State prison population, per capita43

Other:

Old autos in shape of Stonehenge, per capita1
Haybale churches, per capita1
Kool-Aid parades, per capita1
Sheep milk soap production, per capita1
Football ranking, per Memorial Stadium1 to 25


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