Urban Abbey hosted three different Issue Cafes in the Month of February for OTOC Leaders and community members learn more about relevant issues happening in Omaha.

Michael O’Hara from the Sierra Club (pictured left) spoke about the logistics of the city’s upcoming solid waste policy. Why do we need to care about the trash system? 1. It really affects the environment- methane outputs from landfills, trash trucks driving around, etc. 2. How many trash bins fit in your garage- we would like choices about what size and how many bins each household needs. The OTOC Environmental Sustainability Action Team urges citizens to contact their city council members to ask for community involvement in the planning process and for the council to be engaged and aware when reviewing and choosing a proposal. For talking points about how to contact your city council members, click here

 

Jo Giles, Policy and Training Director for Strong Nebraska (pictured right), was OTOC’s guest speaker at the March 27 meeting of the Urban Abbey Series.  The Coalition for a Strong Nebraska  is a coalition of  85 non-profits who are committed to ending poverty through public policy engagement.

Ms. Giles biggest message was that non-profits can lobby.  While the coalition does not lobby itself, it will train people in lobbying skills.

The discussion then turned to an overview of some bills being considered currently in the Unicameral in the areas of Property tax, Healthcare, Education and Civic Engagement.  Ms. Giles noted that a big factor influencing the passing of a bill is the ability of the state to pay for it.  As of Tuesday, Nebraska is experiencing a $200M budget shortfall.

Those bills that have a priority designation have the best chance of getting out to the floor. Sen. Vargas’s LB194 about Pay Day Lending has been named his priority bill, but has still not left the Banking Committee. We will have to wait and see if it will make it to the open  floor.

For additional information on learning how to lobby, receiving a weekly update on legislation, or finding a tutorial on using the legislative website, look here.