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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pillen vetoes bedbug bill aimed at relief for Omaha public housing residents
Bedbugs have been a complaint at a dozen Omaha Housing Authority sites. One of the bugs is shown in some bedding. (Stock photo by) LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has squashed, at least for now, a legislative effort to help Omaha public housing residents get rid of a persistent bed bug problem, vetoing an Urban Affairs Committee bill pushed by a North Omaha lawmaker. Legislative Bill 287 sought quicker and better remedies to bedbug infestations and other concerns voiced by low-income residents of the Omaha Housing Authority, primarily those who live in publicly subsidized apartment towers. The proposed intervention followed public outcry by OHA residents and advocates, including a class-action lawsuit led by a group of current or former residents of 10 public housing high-rise apartments and represented by attorney and former State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha and two Iowa lawyers that specialize in bedbug cases. State Sen. Terrell McKinney, who has pushed the legislative effort, said Wednesday that he was disappointed by Pillen's veto — and is submitting a motion to override it. McKinney, chair of the Urban Affairs Committee, said that he resorted to legislation because residents were not seeing relief they wanted through any other level of government. 'This bill was introduced in response to the complete lack of accountability regarding the Omaha Housing Authority both from HUD and the City of Omaha,' he said Wednesday, referring to the federal U.S. Housing and Urban Development, which is the primary funder of OHA. 'It was meant to assist and help people who have been living through horrible conditions.' State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha remarked from the legislative floor Wednesday that it 'should not go unnoticed' that the two bills vetoed in recent days by the governor were championed by Black men. Last week, the governor vetoed a bill by State Sen. Victor Rountee of Bellevue on expanding SNAP benefits to people with certain drug pasts. The Legislature upheld the veto Monday. In a letter laying out his objection to the bedbug bill, Pillen said it created 'needless duplicative government mandates and regulatory bureaucracy where none is needed.' Pillen said he believed local governments should possess the authority to enforce basic sanitation and anti-infestation standards for dwellings within their jurisdiction. He said that the City of Omaha already possessed that authority. He also said the legislation imposes 'a redundant solution in pursuit of a problem' that federal oversight is legally equipped to address. He said OHA, which manages the units that residents say are infested, is subject to 'rigorous federal oversight.' OHA tower residents and their advocates have said in court documents and media events that the infestation dates back to 2016. OHA officials have said that they have been working on the problem, and have implemented various measures. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and several city council members objected to the bedbug-focused legislation. Among key elements of the bill is an option for the City of Omaha to step in and regulate OHA in areas such as providing for pest control, inspections, penalties for code violations and requiring monthly updates to the city council. During legislative debate, State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, a member of the Urban Affairs Committee, told his colleagues that the option allows the city discretion to pass an ordinance to take more local control. There's been 'a lot of kicking back and forth of who's responsible' and the option, he said, would eliminate the reason the city has given for not engaging more in an oversight role. 'They claim they don't have the authority this bill would grant them,' Cavanaugh said. 'It just takes away their opportunity to say, 'We can't do that.'' City Attorney Matthew Kuhse previously wrote a two-page letter to lawmakers saying that the housing authority is a separate legal entity and that any additional oversight or regulations should be done by the Legislature, not the City of Omaha. Omaha's mayor appoints OHA board members, and the city council confirms them. LB 287 had been amended earlier to also include a bill originally introduced by Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue related to sanitary improvement districts. Pillen, in his veto letter, complained that portion would grant SIDs some regulatory and taxing authority over people living beyond their boundaries. He said the change was 'sufficiently consequential' and deserved 'significantly more' deliberation. McKinney on Wednesday reiterated that the bill's key focus on OHA accountability gave the City of Omaha the option to take action if they chose it. 'It does not mandate anything.' He said, 'The residents of OHA deserve better, and the governor chose not to support their right to safe, accountable housing.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bedbug bill aimed at helping Omaha public housing residents gains traction in Legislature
Bedbugs have been a complaint at a dozen Omaha Housing Authority sites. One of the bugs is shown in some bedding. (Stock photo by) LINCOLN — A now-broader bedbug bill is gaining traction in the Nebraska Legislature as Omaha lawmakers seek to stomp out the blood-sucking parasites and other problems that might creep out public housing residents in the state's largest city. 'What we hear is horrific,' said State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha. 'And we, as a legislative body, can't just sit by and do nothing.' Boosted to priority status by the Legislature's Urban Affairs Committee, Legislative Bill 287 has been amended and combined with LB 514 to seek quicker and better remedies to bedbug infestation and other concerns voiced by low-income residents of the Omaha Housing Authority, primarily those who live in publicly subsidized apartment towers. State legislators Thursday advanced to another level in the lawmaking process the reinforced and amended LB 287 in a 29-1 vote. The proposed intervention follows public outcry by OHA residents and advocates, including a class-action lawsuit led by 17 current or former residents of 10 public housing high-rise apartments represented by attorney and former State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha and two Iowa lawyers that specialize in bedbug cases. That complaint, filed in Douglas County District Court, seeks death for the bugs, at the expense of the public housing authority, and monetary damages for what the attorneys say could be as many as 1,700 past and present residents. The lawsuit included photos of bedbugs and scabby tenant arms, alleging the infestation dates back to 2016. Among key elements of the legislation under consideration by Nebraska senators — and resisted by Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and several city council members — is an option for the City of Omaha to step in and regulate OHA in areas such as providing for pest control, inspections, penalties for code violations and requiring monthly updates to the city council. But State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha told his colleagues that the option allows a city discretion to take more local control. There's been 'a lot of kicking back and forth of who's responsible' and the option, he said, would eliminate the reason the city has given for not engaging more in an oversight role. 'They claim they don't have the authority this bill would grant them,' said Cavanaugh, an Urban Affairs committee member. 'It just takes away their opportunity to say, 'We can't do that.'' In a two-page missive to lawmakers, City Attorney Matthew Kuhse said that even though Omaha's mayor appoints and the city council confirms OHA board members, the housing authority is a separate legal entity and that any additional oversight or regulations should be done by the Legislature. Kuhse cited the the Nebraska Housing Agency Act, passed in 1999, and said passage of those standardized local housing rules and procedures makes the Nebraska Legislature — not the city — responsible for additional oversight. 'Abdicating that authority to the City of Omaha is not appropriate,' he wrote. Bedbugs prompt lawsuit, new potential law aimed at Omaha Housing Authority Jennifer Taylor, an assistant Omaha city attorney who serves on the Omaha Housing Authority Board, spoke earlier to the Urban Affairs Committee, clarifying that she spoke in her capacity as an OHA board member. She said the OHA is about 90% funded and 'heavily regulated' by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and risks financial cuts if it fails federal inspections on a repeated basis. She said housing units managed or owned by the housing authority' also are to comply with city codes. Taylor said the OHA has no qualms with being accountable, but noted that its funding comes obligated to specified uses. She said OHA provides third-party and in-house pest control service, but noted that the agency's high-rises — where the bedbug complaints are most prominent — are old and that the agency is seeking funds to modernize them. 'To add one more layer of government oversight just makes things more complicated, difficult, expensive and time-consuming for the housing authority,' she said. McKinney, however, said the bed bug problem in particular has persisted despite ongoing complaints to OHA and the city about residents suffering from what experts describe as hitchhiking and fast-spreading parasites that cause physical pain and mental anguish. State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha said the proposed legislation 'gives permission' for Omaha leadership to help remedy problems for the city's most vulnerable residents. 'It is disappointing the city does not see the potential with this,' she said. 'But I appreciate this body and Urban Affairs creating an opportunity for the city to step up and engage, without creating an unfunded mandate.' To the pushback from city officials, McKinney asked: 'What skin in the game should they have to hold OHA accountable?' He said the Legislature should take some responsibility, but underscored that the mayor and city council appoint commissioners and are 'closer to the situation than we are.' McKinney said he targeted the legislation to Omaha, but was open to broadening to other communities and their public housing authorities. Included in the amended bill also was a measure by State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue unrelated to the OHA and involving sanitary improvement districts. While much of the public criticism of OHA has been about bedbugs, McKinney outlined a few other 'critical issues' he believes still require action, including 'poor living conditions' of residents with public housing vouchers in downtown Omaha. Among other provisions of the proposed legislation require that OHA: Before renting a unit, visually inspect it for evidence of bedbugs and disclose to the prospective tenant if a nearby dwelling is infested or being treated for the bugs. Upon notice that a person suspects an infestation, inspect within 10 days and provide remedial services from a professional pest control company within 21 days. Inspect or obtain professional service for neighboring units within 10 days of a notice. Be responsible for the costs of investigating and remediating bedbug infestations. Omaha lawyer and OHA Chairman David Levy, in a hearing before the Urban Affairs Committee, said he has reached out to state lawmakers and is happy to continue discussions. 'We want this problem to go away as much as anybody else,' he said. 'It's a very difficult problem.' OHA chief executive officer Joanie Balk has said the agency takes the safety of tenants and treatment of all pests seriously. She said the agency had started to install heat treatment rooms in addition to the pest control teams. State Sen. Stan Clouse of Kearney — who was originally a no-vote when the committee advanced the amended proposal to the full Legislature — told lawmakers Thursday he is now a supporter. Upon further consideration, he said that while the measure could lead to additional responsibility and cost for the City of Omaha, it allows Omaha leaders the option, should they accept, to get more involved with the local housing agency. 'They just can't pass the buck so to speak,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
