Nebraska lawmakers hear concerns, local to national, at South Omaha town hall

OMAHA — A town hall in South Omaha, hosted by two freshmen Nebraska state lawmakers, drew about 50 people and questions ranging from local and state to national matters.

State Sens. Margo Juarez and Dunixi Guereca of Omaha, in the first of what they said will be more joint community meetings, said that on some issues they will be a link to help constituents resolve problems with city or other officials.

After a nearly two-hour session, the senators said they believed a key goal was accomplished — providing an open forum for people in their districts to express whatever concerns them.

“I realize there’s frustrations with there not being more attention paid here in the community. Obviously that is why we are here today,” Juarez at one point told the group gathered in an auditorium at Omaha South High School.

Anxiety

Among those in the audience were Roger Garcia, Douglas County Board chairman, Yanira Garcia, board member of the Regional Metro Transit Board, and Don Preister, a Bellevue City Councilman and founding member of the South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance.

“What we saw also is some real anxiety about what is going on on the federal level,” said Guereca, referring to questions raised about actions of the Trump administration.

One audience member cited the president’s resistance to judicial orders and how that filters to his community and Latinos. Others commented on the demise of Juarez’s previous priority bill, Legislative Bill 299, which partly sought to allow immigrants — those with legal permission to work in the U.S. but who lack permanent residency — access to unemployment insurance benefits their employers pay into.

Juarez explained to the group that the bill was crushed under the weight of a Trump administration threat that the state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.

On state-related issues, perhaps the loudest reaction followed comments about the Legislature’s actions seeking to weaken voter-passed protections for paid sick leave. 

In November, nearly 75% of Nebraska voters approved a ballot measure requiring businesses with over 20 employees to pay sick leave to eligible workers based on hours worked. A bill making its way through the Legislature seeks additional carveouts that would not require paid sick leave for workers ages 14 and 15, seasonal ag workers or workers in businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

An audience member questioned why state lawmakers believe they need to make the law “better.”

“I think if we voted for it, it’s already better. Do they just think we can‘t be trusted with voting?” she said.

Guereca and Juarez said they oppose changing the voter-approved law. 

“We will continue to fight it,” Guereca said, saying that negotiations on the bill continue in the Legislature that wraps up its session in early June. 

A few audience members asked about the status of a Guereca bill that would allow local researchers quicker access to health data collected by the Nebraska Department of Human Services.

Guereca said that DHHS cites a “legal technicality” that effectively keeps local researchers waiting for the data a couple of years, when it is released by federal health officials. He is seeking to get Legislative Bill 446 on a path for passage yet this year, to allow certain qualified researchers quicker access to “de-identified data.” 

“If we’re looking for alarming trends, waiting two years isn’t going to cut it,” he said.

Pay raise for lawmakers?

The senators were somewhat divided on a movement that could raise the pay for lawmakers.

Guereca said he was opposed: “I knew what I was getting into,” he said.

For Juarez, she said she is still contemplating, as she believes the $12,000 annual salary is a deterrent to running for the office, particularly for young people, and has created a legislative body that is not “a good representation of the state.”

“I was able to run, not because I’m wealthy, but because I am retired so I have other monthly income coming in,” she said.

Among other topics that surfaced were federal actions targeting immigrants. A South Omaha resident questioned the Omaha Police Department’s impound lot operations. A 24th Street merchant aired frustrations with the homeless population frightening customers.

“We don’t have in South Omaha a consistent ongoing voice of unity, of unified outrage, to confront government when it does things, not just nationally but locally,” said South Omaha activist Ben Salazar.

Juarez and Guereca talked about other bills they have championed, the lawmaking process and invited participants to weigh in on how often they want town halls.

One woman suggested at least once a month — ”because of the speed at which things are happening (nationally) that impact what you’re doing.”