Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosts first meeting ahead of major deadlines

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The current membership of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosts an inaugural meeting. From left, Commissioners Monica Oldenburg, Kim Lowe and Bruce Bailey. At left is the seat for Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna. June 9, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission hosted its inaugural meeting Monday ahead of a fast-approaching July 1 deadline to set licensing criteria and an Oct. 1 deadline to begin issuing licenses.
Emergency regulations will more than likely need to be adopted to meet the July deadline that voters approved in November, because of public hearing notice requirements for regulatory changes.
Next steps remain unclear for the commission, which has a very limited amount of funds for the task. Commissioner Bruce Bailey of Lincoln, who separately chairs the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, said the goal is to come up with something to show the public by July 1 and seek feedback.
'That's where we are at this time,' Bailey told reporters after the meeting. ''Til then, we really don't know anything.'
Bailey said his 'gut feeling, realizing what a short window it is,' is that the board will 'most likely' need to consider emergency regulations.
Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Ben Swanson, who explained the typical rulemaking process to commissioners on Monday, said he would address the emergency process at the next commission meeting at 10 a.m. on June 26. The commission was still deciding on a location. It was not immediately clear whether the group would hold additional meetings before the July 1 deadline.
Under normal rulemaking conditions, an agency or commission drafts guidelines and sets a hearing for public comment. The public must be notified at least 30 days before said hearing.
If commissioners approve the proposed rules and regulations later this month, with no significant changes, the guidance will be sent to the Attorney General's Office for constitutional review. The governor has final say on the rules and regulations before they are filed with the Secretary of State's Office.
If the commission makes significant changes, there must be another hearing with another 30-day notice.
Much of the first meeting focused on administrative hurdles, including the Open Meetings Act for virtual and in-person meetings and support from the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services for budget control and human resources.
Bailey and Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group that led the new laws through the process to the measures' 2024 wins at the ballot box, described Monday's meeting as a needed 'step.'
'We have to take the wins when we get the wins,' Eggers told reporters. 'Today, having a meeting was a win.'
However, Eggers cautioned that major questions remain about how the commission will find funds to work, the timeline for future regulations and how commissioners will respect what the people had in mind when they passed the new laws.
'We have always been committed to sticking in here and advocating and fighting and educating until the day that we see Nebraska patients who need medical cannabis as an option have it, that it's accessible to them, that it's safe for them,' Eggers said. 'That day is not here yet.'
State lawmakers in May approved a two-year state budget with a $30,000 increase in the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission's bottom line for staffing related to any of the commission's shared duties with the Nebraska Cannabis Commission, for staff who might take on new duties under the medical cannabis law.
Voters placed all three members of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission on the Medical Cannabis Commission. The governor changed the commission's members in recent weeks by choosing not to reappoint Harry Hoch, Jr., to the 2nd Congressional District seat, leaving just Bailey and Commissioner Kim Lowe of Kearney, as first reported by the Nebraska Examiner.
However, lawmakers didn't approve creating a new budget line for the Medical Cannabis Commission the way they did when the Asian American Affairs Commission was created in 2024. Lawmakers also declined to pass a bill clarifying the framework within the Liquor Commission for medical cannabis-related spending and revenue collection.
The result is an unclear system that commissioners started grappling with on Monday.
Jacob Leaver, deputy state budget administrator, said spending from a Liquor Control Commission cash fund should be used for the 'bare minimum.'
He suggested that the cannabis commissioners approve a 'subprogram' in the state budget, which can be done administratively but doesn't equate to new spending. He said commissioners 'theoretically have $0 of appropriation.'
'Essentially, you have to 'borrow' [an] appropriation from the liquor side into that new subprogram for the medical cannabis side,' Leaver said.
The Liquor Control Commission has one cash fund, with a maximum annual spending limit of $100,000, which was slightly increased this spring. The fund collects revenue from various liquor-related fees, such as for registration or server training, or from selling copies of governing rules and other documents. The fund is rarely used but tapping into it creates a new juggling act.
State law allows those funds to be used for 'any administrative costs' associated with specific liquor statutes. Medical cannabis statutes were placed in a different section of the law, and the budget bills did not expressly authorize additional spending from that fund.
Bailey asked whether those funds could be paid back if the Liquor Control Commission authorized diverting funds for the Medical Cannabis Commission. Leaver said 'yes and no,' as the Medical Cannabis Commission collects no general state taxes (income, sales, etc.) but could direct application fees, for instance, back to the cash fund.
Liquor commissioners could ask the Legislature for more funds in 2026 or backfill spending, state budget officials have said.
Bailey told reporters the commission would look into getting some funds soon in the face of a tight budget but 'a large goal.'
'We'll do our best, as we can,' Bailey said.
Bailey and Lowe were sworn into their new roles Monday, as was Dr. Monica Oldenburg of Lincoln. The trio unanimously voted to elect Oldenburg, an anesthesiologist, as chair and approved up to two members to meet with outside consultants or experts and come back with that information.
Commissioner Lorelle Mueting of Gretna missed the first meeting. Oldenburg defended Mueting as having had a prior commitment and said commissioners tried to get to work as soon as possible.
The AG's Office did not, as it has in the past, threaten the commission Monday with a future lawsuit if licensing moves forward by the Oct. 1 deadline. Attorney General Mike Hilgers and his staff have repeatedly threatened that action, including in court and before the Legislature.
Legal action continues in Lancaster County District Court, with a longtime marijuana opponent, former State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, trying to void the new medical cannabis laws. Kuehn's filings argue that the laws are an unlawful delegation of power and run afoul of federal laws against marijuana.
Hilgers and his office have argued the AG should be the one to challenge the laws on encroaching on federal constitutional powers and have asked that Kuehn's case be dismissed.
Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong is currently considering whether to dismiss the case. However, a June 5 filing from Kuehn now seeks to add Oldenburg and Mueting to the case while removing Hoch from the lawsuit.
Hoch was not reappointed to the commission as Gov. Jim Pillen seeks someone with more 'cannabis experience,' according to Hoch.
'This is a constantly evolving and fast-moving controversy as government actors actively seek new ways to use taxpayer resources to implement the measures at issue,' the latest court filing from Kuehn said.
One of Kuehn's attorneys, former State Sen. Andrew La Grone, attended Monday's inaugural meeting of the Cannabis Commission.
Kuehn's lawsuit also targets Pillen, Secretary of State Bob Evnen, other state officials and the three sponsors of the 2024 campaign, including Eggers.
Eggers said she hopes the commission remembers the lives at the center of the fight, including her son who has a severe form of drug-resistant epilepsy. She said the window of opportunity to work together for safe access remains open.
'I hope they approach this remembering that the decisions and the way they do this does impact real people, and those real people and the patients and the voters of the state are watching,' Eggers said of the commission. 'I believe they have a very, very strong expectation to how this goes.'
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