LINCOLN — A proposal aimed at increasing community input into the multimillions of dollars of economic development planned for North Omaha advanced easily Tuesday to its next round of legislative debate.

Legislative Bill 164, in essence, modifies a 2021 law that created inland port districts. Those are state-approved areas ruled by independent boards that oversee development in up to 300 acres and also have the power to issue bonds to help pay for construction.

Before the legislation moved forward on a 31-0 vote, it was amended to include a transfer of $30 million from another fund into the inland port authority fund for a planned innovation hub to be located in North Omaha.

It also seeks to create child care grant programs that had been part of another state senator’s bill.

But State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha said the gist of the measure he and Omaha State Sen. Justin Wayne pushed is to provide more oversight of an unprecedented amount of funding headed to the North Omaha area as a result of legislative action over the past few years.

In large part, their effort was driven by $90 million that lawmakers allocated for a business and industrial park near Eppley Airfield in northeast Omaha. McKinney and Wayne have been critical of the process by which the Nebraska Department of Economic Development awarded the funds to a partnership including the Greater Omaha Chamber, Burlington Capital and the Omaha Economic Development Corp.

Among their concerns was insufficient community feedback on the business park proposal, which envisions clearing residences in the area to make way for shovel-ready land where manufacturers, distributors and other industries can build plants and create jobs.

“If we’re going to invest this much into an area, we should have some transparency and oversight to see things through, to make sure they’re done properly,” said McKinney.

He told lawmakers that he wanted to avert possible comments that “we screwed up,” or that developers acted more for their own “financial gain” than for community development.

LB 164 lays out rules for who can serve on a nine-member board that will govern a North Omaha inland port authority district, requiring, for example, at least two residents of the area.

It provides other guidelines, including how often the public board should meet and seek input.

Earlier this year, the City of Omaha gave the green light to the formation of an inland port authority district in North Omaha. The proposed state legislation says that no more than one such district can be designated within the boundaries of a metropolitan class city.

The legislation also would establish a fund for inland port authorities that taps interest earned from federal pandemic funds and construction funds for the new state prison and Perkins County Canal.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/nebraska-lawmakers-advance-inland-po...