Preventing campus sexual assaults was the focus of a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Feb. 5.<\/p>\n
LB1027, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld, would provide grants to fund programs addressing sexual assault on college campuses. Morfeld said the issue is a real problem on campuses but is rarely discussed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSexual assault is a cancer upon our society and like cancer, we cannot ignore it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must aggressively address it with resources, education and awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant funds could be used for training, education, awareness, prevention, reporting, bystander intervention and research-based threat assessment programs to improve the safety of students on campus.<\/p>\n
Mary Chinnock Petroski, Title IX coordinator at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, supported the bill. She said that addressing campus sexual assault with incoming freshmen is particularly important.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents cannot learn unless their basic needs are met, which includes feeling safe in their learning environment,\u201d she said. \u201cAdditional funds would allow us to use [different methods] to address sexual assault. All students deserve to feel safe at school and LB1027 would help us to reach that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public and nonpublic colleges and universities could apply by Oct. 1 for funding for programs to begin Jan. 1 each year. Funds would be granted based on eligibility, program description, budget goals and performance measures. The program would be concluded by Dec. 1 of the year in which grant funds are awarded.<\/p>\n
The grant program would be funded by a $500,000 appropriation to the Office of the Attorney General each year, beginning with the 2016-2018 biennium.<\/p>\n
No one testified in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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