LINCOLN- This session, lawmakers in the Nebraska Legislature have introduced two new bills aimed at bolstering the state's Crime Victim's Reparations Program. One of these bills, LB757 introduced by Sen. Wendy DeBoer, lengthens the deadline for reporting violent crimes to police from three to five days, extends the filing deadline for minors, and lets the Crime Victim's Reparations Committee consider applications that miss these deadlines for "good cause."

The other bill, LB315 introduced by Sen. John Fredrickson, would prohibit medical providers from referring victims of sexual assault, domestic assault, trafficking, or child abuse to collections. Additionally, Fredrickson's bill would bar these providers from "distributing information" that would negatively impact victims' credit scores.

According to Katie Welsh, legal director at the Women's Center for Advancement, victims of violent crime are often billed for medical costs because they don't have insurance. "Victims are in these situations through no fault of their own," said Welsh, "but are bearing the brunt of the consequences. When the bill goes unpaid, it gets sent to a collection agency...which leads to more phone calls and letters ordering the victim to pay up."

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