A package of bills to help Nebraska families save for college

Earlier this week some state Senators and State Treasurer John Murante, introduced a package of five bills to help Nebraska families save for their child’s college savings.

“We believe this will make Nebraska the nationwide leader in college savings which is exactly what we intend to do,” State Treasurer John Murante said.

One of the bills introduced in this legislative package is to have every new born baby in Nebraska have $100 put into their Nebraska 529 college savings account.

“And this simple act of opening an account tells that child you can have the future you want, there is hop, there is a little more important in our lives than having hope for the future,” Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn.

The way they would fund this proposal is through private sector funding, and left over cash funds that are made available.

Included in this package is that every child that is below 200 percent poverty in Nebraska will have a 2 for 1 dollar to dollar match for every dollar that goes into their 529 account, which would open up doors for everyone.

“It is our offices goal that every kid in the state of Nebraska be able to graduate from a 2 to 4 year college debt free and that they do that through savings and investments,” State Treasurer John Murante said.

What is included in the proposal is an incentive for employers when they create college savings benefits for their employees they would see a 25% tax credit.

“By doing this we are encouraging and incentives every Nebraskan to contribute to anyone’s college’s savings and that’s very important,” Murante said.

These bills were just introduced and still have a long way to go until it can get to Governor Rickett’s desk.