Nebraska lawmakers will have the chance to debate workplace vaccine mandates and exemptions, after LB906 advanced out of committee Monday.
Members of the Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-0, with one abstention, to send an amended version of the bill to the full Legislature.
The vote came after Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair said he would fight any attempted change that could "blow up" the . Hansen introduced LB906 and has named it his priority bill for the year.
"The way it's in the bill is the way I want it to be," he told colleagues. "It took a lot of work to get everyone here."
LB906, would allow employees to be exempted from a workplace vaccine mandate by filling out a state-produced form and declaring that they were refusing the vaccine because of their “strong moral, ethical or philosophical belief or conviction.”
The amended version would cover virtually all employers, not just those with 20 or more employees. It would apply only to the COVID-19 vaccine, not all vaccine mandates. It would provide for medical exemptions, with a written statement from a doctor or other health care provider.
And it would require that employers provide exemptions to people who declare on a state form that the vaccine conflicts with their “sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance.”
Under both versions, employers could require unvaccinated workers to be tested regularly and to wear masks or other protective equipment, a provision that Hansen said was important to protect unvaccinated workers.
With the amendment, most potential opponents, including the Nebraska Hospital Association; the Nebraska Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted-living facilities; and the Nebraska, Omaha and Lincoln Chambers of Commerce took neutral positions on the bill.
Nebraska's chief medical officer supported the amended version of the bill, but the Nebraska Medical Association remained opposed.