LINCOLN — Nebraska could more than double the money available to help crime victims by charging fees to work-release inmates and other convicted criminals.
State lawmakers advanced a bill Monday that would replace some of the funding cut from the Nebraska Victims Compensation Fund during the last state budget crisis.
Legislative Bill 510 would charge a $1 fee on every felony and misdemeanor conviction in the state and each conviction upheld on appeal. The measure also would take 5 percent of the wages earned by inmates on work release.
The crime victims fund already receives 5 percent of the money paid to inmates who work in prison industries. It also gets $20,000 annually from the state general fund.
The state put in $210,000 per year until economic woes forced budget-tightening measures nearly a decade ago.
State funds, inmate wages and federal awards combined for a victims fund budget of $416,000 in fiscal year 2001-02, before budget cuts began.
For the current budget year, the victims fund budget stands at $125,363.
State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said LB 510 would boost that amount to more than $235,000. That could earn the state more federal matching funds and bring the total to nearly $300,000.
Sen. Pete Pirsch of Omaha, who introduced LB 510, said the hope is that the additional funds could be used to restore help for victims of assault. Nebraska stopped providing such help from the victims fund because of the budget cuts. Assault victims once represented more than 50 percent of the claims.
Those still eligible for help are victims or family members affected by homicide, child abuse, robbery, sexual assault, domestic violence, arson or kidnapping.
The fund can provide people with up to $10,000 to cover medical expenses, loss of wages while injured, funeral expenses, loss of earning power and counseling expenses.
LB 510 also would restore funding for job training and other reintegration programs for offenders at the McCook work camp.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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