Lawmakers gave first-round approval Feb. 28 to a bill intended to provide greater flexibility in the siting of a proposed North Omaha business park.<\/p>\n
The Economic Recovery Act, passed by the Legislature in 2022 and updated in 2023, provided funding for pandemic recovery projects in North and South Omaha and other communities that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Under the act, the state Department of Economic Development has granted $90 million to a nonprofit economic development organization for the development of a business park located within the boundaries of a metropolitan class city and within two miles of a major airport. Omaha is the state\u2019s only metropolitan class city.<\/p>\n
LB290, introduced by the Urban Affairs Committee, instead would require the project to be located within the boundaries of an inland port district in Omaha. Under the bill, grant funds could not be used in the downtown or northern downtown areas of Omaha.<\/p>\n
Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, the committee\u2019s chairperson, said building the business park in the originally intended area could displace residents or require spending approximately $40 million on environmental cleanup before development could begin.<\/p>\n
Changing the boundary requirements would give the grantee and the Omaha Inland Port Authority \u2014 which will oversee the business park \u2014 flexibility to explore other sites, he said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Bob Andersen of Omaha opposed LB290 and questioned whether the business park is a good use of funds in light of the state\u2019s projected revenue shortfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying we need to back up and reassess before we move forward with this project at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Omaha Sen. Christy Armendariz supported LB290, saying the project\u2019s funding was not currently in question. She said the governor\u2019s budget proposal recommended cutting millions of dollars from an array of programs \u2014 including ones in North and South Omaha \u2014 but the business park is not among them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would ask that you give [the community] a little grace to take that time [and] do it right,\u201d Armendariz said of the project. \u201cBecause it is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senators voted 31-5 to advance the bill to select file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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