Gun Proposal Could be Debated; $10M AltEn Pollution Study Heard

A proposal to let Nebraskans carry concealed handguns without a permit could be headed for debate in the Legislature. And the Appropriations Committee heard a request for $10 million to study the long-term health and environmental effects of pollution from the AltEn ethanol plant in Mead, Nebraska. From the Capitol, Fred Knapp of Nebraska Public Media News has this legislative update:

Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon is the lead sponsor of the bill to let Nebraskans carry concealed handguns without having to get the permit the state currently requires.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the bill in January, but hasn’t voted on it. Committee Chair Steve Lathrop says he doesn’t think there are enough votes either to kill the proposal or advance it to the full Legislature for debate.

So Brewer’s trying what’s called a “pull motion” – trying to get a majority of senators to vote to pull the bill out of committee and bring it to the full Legislature for debate.

He says there shouldn’t be barriers, like requiring a permit, to people exercising their constitutional right to bear arms. Asked if he thinks more people carrying concealed guns will increase violence, Brewer said it will help people protect themselves.

“The criminals are going to be criminals. They’re going to break the law and do what they want. What we’re saying is, you should have the right to protect yourself and your family,” Brewer said.

Lathrop said he has concerns about the proposal.

“When you eliminate the requirement of a permit, you are also eliminating the need for the training that people currently get before they’re allowed to carry a concealed handgun. And I think that’s important,” Lathrop said.

At the Judiciary Committee’s public hearing on the bill in January, both the Omaha police and police union opposed it, saying it would hurt efforts to take guns away from gang members. Now Brewer has agreed to an amendment that contains a list of crimes, from robbery to domestic assault, where having a gun would still be a separate offense. So Omaha and its police union are now neutral on the bill, boosting its chances.

Before the bill’s debated, it must first be pulled from the committee. That vote’s scheduled for Tuesday, and takes a majority vote – 25 of the 49 senators, to succeed. If it succeeds, a full debate on the bill itself is likely Thursday. Brewer sounded confident about at least the pull motion.

“I think I have the 25 votes – I have 21 co-sponsors so we’re close just with the co-sponsors. So I think the pull motion will go through. The bigger challenge may come on Thursday and that’ll be having 33 because the bill will likely be filibustered,” he said.

Overcoming a filibuster, where opponents try to talk a bill to death, requires a supermajority of 2/3 of the Legislature, or 33 votes.

Brewer is hoping for a big turnout by supporters of his proposal at the Capitol if it’s debated Thursday.

“I hope to fill both of the balconies and the Rotunda and the hallways, and when you come in this Capitol you’ll understand exactly how Nebraskans feel about the Second Amendment,” he said.

A public hearing on guns two years ago drew hundreds of people to the Capitol. A few openly carried guns, as is allowed in parts of the building. But Brewer says he doesn’t want supporters to do that.

“No, we don’t need anybody to come armed. We have plenty of security with the State Patrol here,” he said.

Lathrop, who chaired the hearing that day two years ago, said people were respectful then, and he expects the same now.

“I would expect them to be respectful. I don’t anticipate problems with people arriving and showing their support one way or the other for the bill when it comes on for a hearing,” he said.

Also Thursday, the Appropriations Committee heard a request for $10 million for a study of the long-term health and environmental effects of pollution from the AltEn ethanol plant in Mead. AltEn used seed corn that had been treated with insecticide and fungicide to make ethanol, and piled up contaminated waste products on the land and in wastewater, with millions of gallons leaking off the site when a pipe burst last year. Scientists from the University of Nebraska and Creighton University have begun the study funded by a private donation, but they said that money is about to run out. Eleanor Rogan, a public health professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said they’ve sent out surveys to everyone living within 6 miles of the plant and will invite them to submit blood and urine samples and have their health monitored long term.

“We’re establishing a medical registry so that we can monitor the health of the people in Saunders County who wish to enroll for the next 10 years. We’re setting up this medical registry because we know that some of the possible adverse health effects from these toxins may not show up immediately, but rather can appear after a few years…We’re particularly concerned about neurologic effects on infants and children,” Rogan said.

Rogan said the work would come to a halt if more funds aren’t provided.

Sen. Carol Blood, sponsor of the $10 million proposal, acknowledged it must compete with many other requests for state funds that have been made to the Appropriations Committee.

“I know that you have had more that I can probably count as far as people coming and asking you for funds. I get that. But this is an opportunity -- we’re not trying to build a lake. We’re not trying to bring tourism in. We’re trying to save Nebraskans. And if that’s not a noble thing to do, I don’t know what is,” Blood said.

No one testified against the proposal, although Renewable Fuels Nebraska wrote a letter of opposition saying “The bill language

calls out and generalizes all ethanol plants rather than focusing on the community members of one plant that caused a situation.”

In addition to calling for studying the effects of making ethanol from treated seed corn, like at Mead, the bill also calls for studying “the effects of polluted ground water, soil, and air relating to any ethanol production facility.”

Editor's note: Professor Rogan specified she was speaking as an individual, not as a representative of the university.