OMAHA- A North Omaha community forum became fiery on Sunday as many participants challenged a process that led to certain North and South Omaha groups being granted a share of $225 million. Sens. Terrell McKinney and Justin Wayne fielded questions at the forum following their work on the legislative committee overseeing the Economic Recovery Act, or LB1024, which was used to distribute ARPA funds to the lowest-income areas of Nebraska.

The groups that were chosen to receive these funds were criticized, since some are newer than others. For example, community activist Vickey Parks questioned why Sankofa, a very new business entity, garnered the largest chunk of the Economic Recovery funds, totaling around $40 million.

Sen. Wayne reiterated several times that proposed grants are "not a done deal," and that several verification steps still must be completed. According to Wayne, one of the South Omaha groups in line to receive funds dropped out, allowing the committee to redistribute those funds. Similarly, Wayne and McKinney told the forum that they hope to allocate another $200 million, allowing a more diverse set of businesses to receive funds.

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