Housing aid for survivors of domestic violence advances, Lincoln East Beltway discussed

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

4 de Marzo de 2025 a las 17:00 ·

Senator Eliot Bostar (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News) — Sen. Eliot Bostar. (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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People fleeing domestic violence or human trafficking could get help paying for housing under a bill headed to the full Legislature for debate. And senators heard arguments that funding an east beltway around Lincoln would spur economic growth and improve safety.

The Legislature’s Revenue Committee vote 8-0 Tuesday to advance Sen. Eliot Bostar’s LB78. That’s a bill that would provide help, like rent and utility payments, for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Bostar said the idea is to help people make a successful transition out of dangerous situations.

“These are folks who are find themselves in acute need for housing assistance so that they don't end up in the situations that they've managed to escape from,” he said.

Bostar said these people fall between the cracks of existing housing programs.

“Current housing assistance programs don't work for victims of domestic violence and trafficking victims, because there are disclosure requirements for all those other housing programs, and those are disclosure requirements that we want to make sure our programs are working… So obviously, when we're talking about folks who are in danger, are fleeing danger and need a temporary place to stay, where it's safe while they can get their life back together, we can't have them disclosing (their) location,” he said.

His proposal would rely on increasing the documentary stamp tax that home sellers pay, from the current $2.25 per $1,000 of the selling price to $2.32. That would cost someone who sells a house for $300,000 an additional $21. Bostar says that’s justified.

“I think, in the grand scheme of everything that we're doing, providing this assistance to folks who are victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence is a worthwhile endeavor,” he said.

The proposal is just one of several proposed uses of documentary stamp tax revenue, including one that would use it to reduce inheritance taxes. That proposal has not yet made it out of committee.

Also Tuesday, members of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee heard a proposal by Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln for the state to chip in $15 million toward the construction of an east beltway around Lincoln. The road would connect Interstate 80 in Waverly with Highway Two to the southeast of Lincoln.

Map of proposed East Beltway (Source: Lancaster County Engineer) — Map of proposed East Beltway. (Courtesy of Lancaster County Engineer)

Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Director David Cary said that would complete a ring road around Lincoln.

“The segments of the loop include Interstate 80 on the north, Highway 77 on the west, the new South Beltway on the south, and this future East Beltway on the east. The complete loop will serve the city and county and enhance the future economic development to meet the transportation needs of our growing community far into the future,” Cary said.

Supporting the proposal, Carter Thiele of the Lincoln Independent Business Association said building the road would improve the regional economy and help boost state revenues.

“Located a couple miles in the direction the city is growing fastest, within a generation that area will be filled with tens of thousands of of more people, and hundreds of new businesses, that will contribute even more personal and corporate income tax,” he said.

Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman said the 13-mile road would cost an estimated $551 million to build. She said it’s a project that’s been on the drawing board since the 1990s, prompting a comment from Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus.

“So you’ve only been working on this 30 years? That’s like a week in the way it takes us to build roads,” Moser said.

Moser also expressed his opinion of the current route via 148th Street from Waverly to Highway Two.

“I went to Kansas City this weekend. I drove, on Senator Ballard's advice, I took 148th to cut from the interstate to Highway 2. That road sucks,” he said.

Dingman said with current, growing traffic volumes, 148th street will exceed its capacity by 2040.

Ballard acknowledged that the state faces budget challenges this year, but said his proposal reflects the project’s importance for the future.