LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A committee has set an April 7 hearing date for a residency challenge against Nebraska’s longest-serving state senator.

The special committee voted 7-0 on Tuesday to hear the allegations brought by a political opponent of state Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

John Sciara of Omaha has alleged that Chambers lives in Bellevue rather than the north Omaha district he represents in the Legislature. Chambers has scoffed at the claim, providing utility and newspaper subscription bills and a phone book listing as evidence of his north Omaha address.

Sciara ran against Chambers last year but received less than 19 percent of the vote.

The 79-year-old Chambers served in the Legislature from 1979 to 2009. Term limits forced him from his seat, but he returned to office in 2013.