Seven senators who voted for a medical cannabis regulatory bill said latest amendment was not related to a broader health reporting bill
LINCOLN — A late legislative attempt Wednesday to give additional protections to health care practitioners who recommend medical cannabis to Nebraska patients fell well short of moving forward a day after a broader medical cannabis regulatory bill stalled.
State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha sought to add those physician liability protections Wednesday to a broader Health and Human Services Committee bill: Legislative Bill 376. The measure seeks to slash various reporting requirements and make other changes primarily in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
Cavanaugh said his effort was a “solution” that would be a “small but meaningful step” for some of the families who showed up Tuesday for LB 677, the medical cannabis regulatory bill from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair. LB 677 failed 23-22, falling 10 votes short of overcoming an all-day filibuster.
“Give these families some hope, some opportunity to get access to what the voters approved at over 70%,” Cavanaugh told his colleagues. “Vote to give doctors some small protection if they follow their conscience and their training.”
Under the ballot measures approved in November, a patient can possess up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis for any condition with a health care practitioner’s recommendation.
Physician recommendation hesitancy
However, DHHS has not issued guidance and many advocates have reported that in-state physicians have refused to issue any medical cannabis recommendations. Until medical dispensaries are licensed, which is required under the voter-approved law by Oct. 1, cannabis can’t legally be purchased in Nebraska.
Part of Cavanaugh’s push also comes as Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has acknowledged the possibility of investigating the licenses of physicians who recommend cannabis and continued to challenge the voter-approved laws.
Under Cavanaugh’s amendment, in language identical to the medical provider protections in LB 677, a health care practitioner could not be arrested, prosecuted or disciplined solely for providing a written recommendation or for stating in their professional opinion that a patient is likely to benefit from using cannabis to treat or alleviate a medical condition.
The Nebraska Medical Association had voiced support for the protections.
‘Cheap parlor trick’
State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County, who staunchly opposed LB 677, argued that Cavanaugh’s amendment was not “germane,” or related, to LB 376. Speaker John Arch of La Vista, a former HHS Committee chair who was presiding over the Legislature at the time, agreed.
Cavanaugh moved to overrule the chair, which fell short 15-30, so the proposal didn’t reach an overarching vote. The motion needed at least 24 votes because three senators had left the Capitol.
Hansen, a former HHS Committee chair, said there was no “boogeyman” in the amendment.
But State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, current chair of the HHS Committee, called the attempt a “cheap parlor trick” that could get LB 376 vetoed. Gov. Jim Pillen has said LB 677 wasn’t needed.
“Fascinating process of playing chess where they’re trying to deep-six the committee bill from HHS with an unwelcome amendment,” Hardin said.
State Sens. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse and Mike Moser of Columbus also disagreed that the amendment was in the “natural and logical sequence” to the subject matter of LB 376,” as Cavanaugh argued under legislative rules. Cavanaugh also pointed to a section in the bill that discussed civil and criminal protections for certain physicians or hospital staff.
If the amendment was worthy, Hallstrom and Moser said, senators needed more time.
“I think this is crazy,” Moser said of the amendment, lambasting that it came around 8 p.m.
Last-minute amendments, particularly late at night in legislative sessions, are not unusual.
Germaneness is a mixed bag
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said she thought the amendment was germane and that her opinion was just as valuable as that of Hallstrom or Moser.
Hunt said the “gag” is that germaneness is whatever the majority says it is. She pointed to the 2023 merger of bills to restrict abortion and health care for transgender youths, which State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha also mentioned. The Nebraska Supreme Court later affirmed the combined 2023 bill as having been germane.
DeBoer said she understood Wednesday’s hesitation and asked Cavanaugh why he chose a last-second approach and hadn’t warned Hardin or others before filing his amendment. He responded that LB 677 stalled late Tuesday and that he came up with the idea Wednesday.
DeBoer said that if lawmakers followed past practice on determining germaneness, the amendment was likely germane. But she acknowledged “it’s kind of crappy to do it last minute like this, no offense.”
DeBoer was one of seven senators who voted for LB 677 but on Wednesday voted to uphold Arch’s ruling against Cavanaugh’s amendment. The others were progressive State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and conservative State Sens. Stan Clouse of Kearney, Myron Dorn of Adams, Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue and Jana Hughes of Seward.
‘Do the right thing’
The two senators voting to overrule Arch’s ruling and who did not vote for LB 677 were State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, who was “present, not voting” as she continued discussing concerns with Hansen, and State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, who missed the final vote but had supported the bill.
Bosn, a former prosecutor who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and whom Pillen first appointed to the Legislature in 2023 before she was elected in November, told the Nebraska Examiner that she was convinced by Cavanaugh’s argument that LB 376 opened up many sections of law.
Had Cavanaugh’s amendment come up for a vote, Bosn confirmed she would have voted for it. Bosn said it made sense and is within legislative responsibility if physicians are reluctant to act. Bosn, Cavanaugh and Hansen said it was also a question the Legislature would have to grapple with soon because the regulatory commission can’t shield physicians through regulations.
In his final plea to senators, Cavanaugh uttered a popular phrase that the “hottest places in hell are reserved for those, when in times of moral crisis, preserve their neutrality.”
“Don’t relegate yourself to the hottest places in Hell,” Cavanaugh said. “Do the right thing for these families.”
Cavanaugh and Hansen said the medical cannabis fight continues in whatever way possible, either in the final seven days of the 2025 session, the regulatory process or in 2026.
Hansen pointed to a phrase on the north side of the State Capitol that he said was crucial as regulations moved forward: “The salvation of the state is watchfulness in the citizen.”
