Nebraska ADC: 2025 payment maximum diverges from SON × 0.55 formula

[hua7450]

Summary

The repo computes Nebraska ADC payment standard as need_standard × 0.55 (ne_adc_payment_standard.py). This matches official tables exactly for 2021 and 2023, but diverges for 2025 by up to $4/month.

Background

Per Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-512(3), the maximum payment level is "fifty-five percent of the standard of need." No legislation has changed this formula — the statute still says 55%.

In 2021 and 2023, the SON per-person increment × 0.55 produced exact integers ($140×0.55 = $77, $160×0.55 = $88), so round(SON(n) × 0.55) matched the official table perfectly. In 2025, $170×0.55 = $93.50 — not an integer. Per-size rounding would create alternating $93/$94 increments. DHHS instead published a clean linear table with $94/person increment and a base of $396.

2025 Divergence

Size	SON	SON × 0.55	round()	Official PM	Diff
1	$727	$399.85	$400	$396	-$4
2	$897	$493.35	$493	$490	-$3
3	$1,067	$586.85	$587	$584	-$3
4	$1,237	$680.35	$680	$678	-$2
5	$1,407	$773.85	$774	$772	-$2
6	$1,577	$867.35	$867	$866	-$1
7	$1,747	$960.85	$961	$960	-$1
8	$1,917	$1,054.35	$1,054	$1,054	$0
9	$2,087	$1,147.85	$1,148	$1,148	$0
10	$2,257	$1,241.35	$1,241	$1,242	+$1
Each addl	$170	$93.50	$94	$94	—

Source: Title 468 NAC Chapter 3, p.9

Proposed Fix

Add a dedicated payment maximum parameter table (similar to standard_of_need/amount.yaml) with the official values from the Title 468 table, effective 2025-07-01. The payment_standard_rate of 0.55 would continue to apply for 2015–2023 periods.

References

• Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-512(3) — "fifty-five percent of the standard of need"
• Title 468 NAC Chapter 3 — Official 2025 SON and Payment Maximum tables
• ACF-202 / NE State TANF Plan 2025, p.3 — Confirms PM(3) = $584 for 2025
• PR Backdate Nebraska ADC parameters  #7470 comment documenting the divergence