OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure that will allow for a public-private partnership to build a $136 million veterans medical facility in Omaha. Nebraska Democratic Congressman Brad Ashford said the measure was signed Friday. Ashford pushed the bill through the House. U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican, sponsored it in the Senate.

Under the measure, the Department of Veterans Affairs will provide $56 million to build 157,000 square feet of new medical space next to the current aging and outdated VA hospital in Omaha. Private donors will put up the remaining $80 million.
Ashford tells the Omaha World-Herald officials hope the facility will be completed in 2018.