Senators pass bill to apply for additional federal rental assistance
LB 1073– the bill to require the state to apply for a $120 million in additional rental assistance- passed on Wednesday morning on a vote of 26 for, 15 against, and 8 present not voting. See the final vote here and make sure to email senators to thank them if they voted yes!
The bill needed 33 yes votes to pass with an emergency clause that would have made the bill effective immediately so that the state could apply by the March 30th deadline set by the Treasury Department. But there is still a benefit to passing the bill even without the emergency clause! There are potentially millions still on the table allocated to Nebraska to use for rental assistance.
Now is the time to contact the Governor and urge him to sign LB 1073 into law. He has until Tuesday to veto the bill.
Food assistance eligibility bill advanced
Also happening this week- Sen. Hunt’s priority bill LB 121 advanced from the first round of debate on a vote of 25 for, 17 against, and 3 present not voting. If passed, the bill would repeal a lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for those convicted of certain drug offenses.
Opponents to the bill promised to filibuster the bill on the next round of debate, meaning the bill could be in peril. If filibustered on Select File, the bill would need 33 votes to end debate and advance to a final vote. Read more about the bill here.
Senators advance ARPA bill with funding for food assistance
Senators spent much of the week debating LB 1014, which allocates the $1 billion in federal funding Nebraska received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In the adopted committee amendment, the Appropriations Committee recommended including Sen. DeBoer’s LB 1201, which allocates funding to food banks and to grants to nonprofits that provide food assistance and that implement innovative projects that improve the food supply chain.
The original proposal asked for $40 million, but the Appropriations Committee cut this in half to $20 million ($10 million for the food banks and $10 million to other organizations). During debate, senators passed an amendment from Sen. DeBoer that reallocated the split to $17.5 for the food banks and $2.5 million for other organizations in order to preserve funding for the purchase of food by the food banks.
Sen. Hunt introduced an amendment that would have restored the full $40 million in funding proposed by LB 1201 by using $20 million from the building of a new law enforcement training center. However, after it was clear this did not have the needed support, she pulled the amendment saying she would find a different funding source.
LB 1014 will be up for the second round of debate early next week. Read the full list of funding recommendations from the Appropriations Committee here.