***For Immediate Release***
January 14, 2016
Contact, Jeff Sheldon
Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Office: (402) 438-8853
Mobile: (402) 840-7289
jsheldon@neappleseed.org
Nebraska Appleseed issues response to 2016 State of the State Address
Today, Nebraska Appleseed Executive Director Rebecca Gould issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s State of the State Address.
“In his State of the State Address this morning, Governor Ricketts asked State Senators to put themselves in the shoes of a low-income person who must make tough financial choices. Right now 77,000 uninsured Nebraskans make tough choices every day between buying food, paying rent, or going to the doctor,” Gould said. “The best way to directly improve the quality of life for these uninsured, low-income Nebraskans is to make sure they have a path to affordable health coverage.
“Leaders in the Legislature, our health care sector, and the business community from Omaha to Scottsbluff understand this is the biggest issue we face in 2016. They also realize we rely on current federal-state partnerships to bring Nebraska’s tax dollars back to our state to fund nearly one-third of our current state budget. Allowing Nebraska to recoup $2.1 billion in our own tax dollars to create jobs, improve our health care system, and pay for basic health coverage is a critical investment for Nebraska’s future and one we need to take advantage of this year.
“We agree with the Governor that Nebraska’s people make it the best place to call home, but there must be opportunity for all Nebraskans to get ahead. Being able to afford health care is the surest path to a secure and prosperous future for our state’s hard-working people. As the Governor said, when he works together with the Legislature, we can find solutions to big problems. It’s time for the Governor to come to the table on health coverage for 77,000 of our uninsured friends and neighbors. This problem can’t be ignored any longer.”
