State lawmakers approved the 14-member commission in April on a 46-0 vote. It will be similar to other state commissions on Indian Affairs, Latino-Americans and African American Affairs when the law takes effect July 19. A final member will be appointed in the future, and members serve four-year terms.

An executive board of the commission will oversee operations between meetings, consisting of a chair, chosen from among the membership, and four other members. Meetings must be held at least once every quarter, in January, April, July and October.

Members will receive $50 for each day performing their duties as well as related expense reimbursements.

“The purpose of the commission is to join representatives of Asian Americans in Nebraska to do all things which the commission may determine to enhance the cause of Asian American rights and to develop solutions to problems common to all Asian Americans residing in Nebraska,” the law, approved in Legislative Bill 1300, states.

State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, who is Filipina and the only current state lawmaker of Asian descent, introduced the legislation in LB 2 last year. It stalled in the previous biennium.

Sanders said in April that the commission is important for a small but growing population in Nebraska. This includes a committee of advocates who joined to push for the bill, including in a meeting with the governor.

“If we can educate and integrate into the community, the more successful everyone will be,” Sanders said at the time.

The commission’s duties as required by law will be to:

• Promote state and federal legislation that would be beneficial to the state’s Asian American community.
• Coordinate programs relating to the Asian American community regarding housing, education, welfare, medical and dental care, employment, economic development, law and order, and other related problems.
• Work with other state and federal government agencies and elected officials to develop the coordinated programs.
• Keep the Nebraska Governor’s Office apprised of the status of Asian American affairs in the state.
• Provide relevant information and education to the public.
• Develop programs to encourage the total involvement of Asian American people in activities for the common benefit of the community.

The members so far are:

• Maureen Brase of Raymond (founder and director of Kokyo Taiko, Nebraska’s only Wadaiko performance group — Japanese style drumming).
• Weysan Dun of Omaha (a former FBI special agent).
• Dr. Deepak M. Gangahar of Elkhorn (a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon).
• Maorong Jiang of Omaha (director of Creighton University’s Asian World Center).
• Tram Kieu of Lincoln (grants manager for the Cooper Foundation).
• Joanne Li of Omaha (chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha).
• Yunwoo Nam of Lincoln (professor of community and regional planning at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln).
• Arunkumar Pondicherry of Lincoln (president of the India Association of Nebraska Lincoln and member of the Nebraska Library Commission).
• Rebecca (Jueyezi) Reinhardt of Lincoln (cultural program coordinator and Chinese community advocate for the Asian Community and Cultural Center).
• Vickie Sakurada Schaepler of Kearney (Japanese Hall and History Project coordinator for the Legacy of the Plains Museum).
• Ryo Suzuki of Kearney (senior director for strategic marketing and external relations at the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s College of Business and Technology and the Nebraska Safety Center).
• Hiep Vu of Lincoln (associate professor at UNL’s Nebraska Center for Virology).
• Carol Wang of Omaha (executive director of the Metro Omaha Medical Society).

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