An agreement between the attorney general’s office and the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission to work together on cases of alleged discrimination fell apart Friday after Attorney General Jon Bruning insisted he would not file any cases on behalf of illegal immigrants.

In two separate meetings with reporters earlier Friday morning, Bruning and NEOC chairman Arnold Nesbitt said the two agencies had agreed to work together to make sure the commission does not lose about $240,000 in federal funds.

Details of the agreement would be worked out during the next 10 days, both said.

But at his news conference later Friday morning, Bruning reiterated that his office would not file any cases on behalf of illegal immigrants.

That announcement was a deal breaker, according to Anne Hobbs, NEOC executive director.

After learning about Bruning’s comments to reporters, the commission held an emergency meeting and unanimously agreed that Hobbs should seek advice from outside counsel, Hobbs said.

NEOC commissioners had believed the agreement would include taking cases that involved undocumented individuals, as required by state and federal law, Hobbs said.

The NEOC and Bruning had said they hoped the agreement would lead to better cooperation between the two agencies and restoration of about $240,000 a year in federal funding to the state commission.

This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended all complaint referrals and federal funding to the state agency and gave the NEOC 30 days to improve its relationship with the attorney general’s office.

HUD already has pulled the roughly 19 cases currently being investigated by the Nebraska commission staff, with a corresponding loss of between $40,000 and $45,000, Hobbs said.

A HUD official said late Friday afternoon that the agency will continue to monitor the situation and work with the state commission.

“Well, the situation is still in flux, obviously,” said Bryan Greene, deputy assistant secretary for HUD.

HUD wants to make sure the state’s performance improves and that “the  people of Nebraska are getting the full benefit of the state’s fair housing law,” he said.

During his news conference, Bruning said he also wanted to help get the funding restored.

“We want to fix this (funding problem) with HUD,” he said.

HUD has been monitoring the Nebraska situation for several years because of an ongoing dispute between the commission and Bruning over the attorney general’s refusal to take many of the NEOC’s housing complaints into court after the commission has determined that discrimination likely took place.

The attorney general has said the cases are not well investigated. NEOC staff have said they have asked for advice from the attorney general’s office on case investigations but have not gotten help.

That was expected to change with the proposed agreement.

Under the agreement, the attorney general’s staff was to work with NEOC staff during the investigation phase to “help build better cases,” Bruning said.

Bruning said he is committed to stopping discrimination and would use the full weight of his office to root out and stop discrimination.

He said he would continue to decide which cases merit being taken to court. Bruning said he refused to take a recent housing discrimination case into court because the facts didn’t support the allegation of discrimination and because the person complaining was an illegal immigrant.

There are two competing federal laws on illegal immigrants, he said. One gives illegal immigrants protection from discrimination. The other prohibits illegal immigrants from getting non-emergency public benefits. Those benefits include the services of the state attorney, Bruning said.

Illegal immigrants who want to pursue discrimination cases can hire their own attorney, he said.

Gov. Dave Heineman called together representatives from the attorney general’s office and NEOC commissioners on Thursday to work out an agreement after learning of HUD’s letter suspending referrals and federal funding, said NEOC chairman Nesbitt.

Both agencies had agreed the doors would be “wide open” to “rebuilding that relationship,”  Nesbitt said. The issue is whether HUD will be satisfied that will occur, he said.

This is the second time the two agencies have tried to work out an agreement, Nesbitt said.

About two years ago, representatives from HUD and the attorney general’s office worked together on a memorandum of understanding on how they would work together on cases,  he said during Friday morning’s scheduled commission meeting.

“Unfortunately, that memorandum has not been put into effect,” he said.

The goal is to resolve the issue and not argue about it in the press, Nesbitt said, adding he had hoped cooler heads would prevail.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.