Council delays $300,000 Omaha Thrives child care pilot vote to Nov. 24

OMAHA — Working families who earn too much for state child care aid will wait at least two more weeks to learn whether Omaha puts $300,000 toward a pilot meant to make care more affordable. The Omaha City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to delay until Nov. 24 an agreement with the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative to run the Omaha Thrives pilot in 2027, according to the meeting video.

Jennifer Rasmussen Sagan of Nebraska Thrives, a coalition of business and philanthropic leaders, said the one-year pilot would start in January 2027 with a limited group of child care providers, and that the coalition has secured $1 million in private funding commitments. Caitlin DeHelius, director of the city's Human Rights and Relations Department, said the city's share would focus on census tracts in its poverty elimination plan.

Council Member Brinker Harding moved the delay, saying members were first briefed at 11 a.m. and asked to approve the $300,000 that afternoon. "I'm just asking for a little more time," he said. Council President Danny Begley said he supports the pilot "whether it's today or in two weeks." The council does not meet next Tuesday.

Residents who want a comment entered into the public record before Nov. 24 can send it by email to cityclerk@cityofomaha.org, the council said at the start of the meeting.

Source: Omaha City Council meeting, Nov. 10, 2026, official video (item 21), with the meeting transcript via Citizen Portal; council member names from the Douglas County Election Commission.

How we checked this: Reported from the Omaha City Council's Nov. 10, 2026, meeting video and its transcript (via Citizen Portal) and the Douglas County Election Commission's list of elected officials, opened Nov. 11, 2026, at 5:28 a.m. CT, and checked against the record by our copy desk before publishing.