Native Omaha Days group gets update on millions of dollars coming to east Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — The more than 350 North and South Omaha entities that applied last year for a chunk of the multimillion-dollar Economic Recovery Act should get prepared for their next shot at the grant dollars.

State Sen. Terrell McKinney, during a lively town hall meeting Tuesday night, offered an update on the process to distribute roughly $225 million set aside by the Nebraska Legislature for economic development projects in the eastern part of Omaha.

The North Omaha lawmaker said he expects the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to reveal the new application timeline in the next few weeks and said the competitive process has been slowed in part because of a top leadership change in the DED.

McKinney said he recognizes there was confusion and frustration in the first go-around attempt, and will continue to strive for “transparency” as the DED moves forward in its evaluation and selection of proposals.

Not everyone who applies this time will be funded, he added, noting that the earlier requests totaled about $3 billion.

“It’s not about me or you individually, it’s about the betterment of our community,” McKinney said. “These resources can bring positive change.”

Native Omaha homecoming

More than 50 people attended the gathering held during Native Omaha days, a weeklong homecoming festival that draws North Omahans from around the country to celebrate their community. Among the group was Omaha City Councilwoman Juanita Johnson and Omaha State Sen. Justin Wayne .

Billed as a post-legislative wrap-up discussion, McKinney spent about two hours touching upon numerous legislative efforts that he pushed and supported. He admitted that not every vote was praised by all.

Some of the liveliest discussion, indeed, centered upon McKinney’s vote that helped pass a new and controversial state law that provides state tax credits to donors funding  private and parochial school scholarships.

He said his support for the Opportunity Scholarships Act was to offer a choice to youths in his community who he said have been failed by school systems in the past.

“Is it a solution, no, but I can’t sit idly by when we have only one option that has consistently failed our kids,” McKinney said. “I vote as a Black man in America who fully lacks faith in external entities to care about children who look like me.”

Twists and turns

Drawing more questions than ire was the high-profile Economic Recovery Act — which went through several twists and turns since introduced in 2022 by McKinney and Wayne.

McKinney said the legislation that he sponsored this year as Legislative Bill 531 was a sort of “cleanup” or refinement of the Economic Recovery Act, which initially allocated $335 million to the state’s most disadvantaged and pandemic-impacted areas.

More money was added during the past session, and a portion of the overall tally already has been appropriated to certain projects.

But McKinney’s LB 531 set out the new process for how roughly $225 million in grants would be distributed to North and South Omaha.

He reiterated to the town hall group that the more than 350 groups that applied the first time around to consultant Olsson & Associates would be eligible to compete for a grant. Those that did not apply are ineligible, he said.

Vickey Parks, a longtime activist in North Omaha, was among those who said they’ve been waiting for information. Some questioned how accessible the state officials will be in providing details.

“I would like to see DED meet with people in this community,” Parks said.

Terri Sanders, owner of the Omaha Star newspaper, said she was among the 35 applicants recommended for a grant in the earlier competitive process led by Olsson. 

McKinney said he believes that should give her application an edge, but he said all original applicants are allowed to reapply and that the 35 Olsson recommendations are not guaranteed a grant.

Malcolm X museum

Tuesday’s town hall was held at the Malcolm X Memorial birthsite campus, 3448 Evans St., where supporters are seeking to expand and build a museum. Among the topics that garnered the biggest applause was when McKinney mentioned the $20 million that LB 531 set aside to help create the Malcolm X museum.

McKinney said the project would expand the leader’s legacy locally and nationally.

“I think that’s amazing,” he said.

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