Mask, Testing Mandates Survive; Canal Questions Raised

Employers could still require employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 to be tested and wear masks, under a bill debated in the Legislature Tuesday. And two professors briefed the Appropriations Committee on questions raised by Gov. Pete Ricketts’ proposal for a canal from Colorado.

Sen. John Arch, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, says the COVID-19 vaccine bill aims to clarify employers and employees’ rights if an employer mandates vaccinations.

“It does not take away the right of an employer to mandate. If an employer chooses to mandate, they have the freedom to do so. What this bill does is, is it clarifies if you do that, there are certain rights of an employee,” Arch said.

Those rights include the right to apply for, although not necessarily be granted, a religious or medical exemption. But the bill also says employees who get such exemptions may be required to be tested or wear masks. Sen. Mike Groene proposed an amendment to get rid of that possible requirement.

Sen. Steve Erdman supported Groene’s amendment, saying without it, the state would be “discriminating against people who have natural immunity, or who have an issue with taking the shot.”

Sen. Megan Hunt opposed the amendment, saying what she thinks is at the heart of the issue.

“It’s about the rights of businesses to run their companies the way they want to, and it’s about the rights of people until we cross that line of harming others. Nobody has the right to harm somebody else. Government does not give people the right to put other people in danger,” Hunt said.

Sen. Ben Hansen, lead sponsor of the bill, argued there was no reason to treat unvaccinated people differently from those who are vaccinated.

“It’s pretty much irrefutable truth now that vaccinated and unvaccinated people spread this virus and get infected the same,” Hansen said.

The Centers for Disease Control said in October that while recent infection with COVID does provide some immunity, unvaccinated people are five times more likely to become infected and therefore transmit the virus.

Hansen initially supported Groene’s amendment, and said he would vote for it.

“The floor amendment that he did put down, I would consider a friendly amendment,” he said.

But groups including the Nebraska Hospital Association said they would oppose the bill if the amendment were adopted. Hansen changed his position, and urged senators to vote against it.

“I’m going to make the recommendation now that Floor Amendment 72 (Groene’s amendment) has become an unfriendly amendment,” Hansen said.

The amendment then was defeated, with 18 senators voting in favor and 20 against. The bill is expected to be debated for about another hour Wednesday before a second-round vote is reached.

Also Tuesday, two University of Nebraska professors briefed the Appropriations Committee on questions raised by Gov. Pete Ricketts’ proposal to build a canal to bring water from the South Platte River in Colorado into Nebraska. Both spoke based on their personal expertise, not representing the university. Law professor Anthony Schutz addressed the question of whether the canal would help protect water supplies in the South Platte for Lincoln and Omaha.

That’s an argument Ricketts has made that was supported in a hearing last week by Elizabeth Elliot, Lincoln’s Director of Transportation and Utilities. “After reviewing the data, we believe the canal will assist in keeping water flow at its current level, and offers some protection for the state in times of drought,” Elliott said.

Speaking via Zoom Tuesday, Schutz disagreed:

“This project would provide absolutely no benefit to Lincoln or Omaha” in terms of water supply,” Schutz said.

Schutz said that’s because the water those two cities use is fed into the Platte from the Loup and Elkhorn River basins, far downstream from Colorado.

Ricketts has also argued the canal is needed to protect water coming into Nebraska from being taken for use in the fast-growing Colorado Front Range, including Denver. Water law and ag specialist Dave Aiken, also speaking via Zoom, said it’s true the interstate compact with Colorado gives Nebraska the right to divert water into a canal. But Aiken said there’s an important limitation.

“The language of the compact says that the Perkins County Canal is subject to all present and future diversions in the upper section of the river. And of course at the end of the upper section is Denver. So Denver and the Denver suburbs, they can do whatever they need to. As long as they’re geographically within the upper section of the river, whatever they do, we can’t complain about,” Aiken said.

Committee Chair Sen. John Stinner said senators will use the information to question the Department of Natural Resources and the Attorney General’s office Wednesday.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect indication of what round of voting the vaccine bill faces Wednesday. It is at the second round of voting.