NE Reform Coalition: Sen. Hansen, Sen. Cavanaugh, Crista Eggers

Last verified: May 2026

Sen. Ben Hansen (R-Blair)

Sen. Ben Hansen represents Senate District 16 (Blair / Washington County). Chiropractor by profession; self-described "Republican with a Libertarian bent." Hansen is the principal Republican advocate for cannabis reform in the Nebraska Legislature.

• LB 677 (2025) primary sponsor: comprehensive medical-cannabis-implementation bill establishing 5.5% sales tax for property-tax relief, up to 30 dispensaries, 5 vertical licenses, no smoking but vaporizing/nebulizers allowed.
• LB 677 failed 23-22 cloture vote May 20, 2025 — 10 short of the 33 needed.
• Hansen will term out after 2026.

Hansen’s libertarian-leaning Republican framing aligns with the Sandhills cultural disposition and the broader cross-cutting cannabis-policy consensus that produced the 70.74% I-437 vote.

Sen. John Cavanaugh (D-Omaha, District 9)

Sen. John Cavanaugh represents Senate District 9 (Omaha). Catholic University and Vermont Law School graduate. Vice-chair of the General Affairs Committee with primary cannabis jurisdiction. Democratic candidate for Congress in NE-2 in 2026 for the seat being vacated by Don Bacon.

• October 2025: Filed formal regulatory complaint charging the Medical Cannabis Commission with overriding voter intent (in-state-physician requirement, in-state-ownership requirement, 1,250-plant cultivator cap, 5g delta-9 THC / 90-day cap).
• LB 933 (2026): Sponsored physician-protection bill. Advanced 30-7 first round March 20, 2026. ⚠️ Withdrawn April 9, 2026 after opponents added "poison pill" amendments.
• LB 934 (2026): Sponsored bill to make Medical Cannabis Commission elected (rather than governor-appointed). Heard February 2, 2026; no committee action.
• Hemp industry estimates: Cavanaugh estimated NE hemp businesses bring in ~$10M annual sales taxes and employ ~2,000 Nebraskans.

Sen. Rick Holdcroft (R-Bellevue) — Committee Chair

Sen. Rick Holdcroft (R-Bellevue, SD 36) chairs the General Affairs Committee. Conservative who voted to advance LB 677 from committee with the "compromise" amendment. Holdcroft’s chairmanship has shaped the procedural posture for medical-cannabis-implementation bills.

Crista Eggers — Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana

Crista Eggers has been executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana since 2019. Mother of Colton Eggers, a child with epilepsy and severe seizures. Public face of the campaign through three ballot cycles (2020, 2022, 2024). Crista Eggers’s own application for a Medical Cannabis Commission cultivator license was denied with a score of 42.33; the denial was widely interpreted as politically charged. Eggers continues to lead the campaign organization and serve as principal spokesperson.

Former Sen. Anna Wishart (D-Lincoln)

Former Sen. Anna Wishart (D-Lincoln) left office January 8, 2025 due to term limits. From 2018 onward, with then-Sen. Adam Morfeld, founded the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana ballot committee and spent six years pushing variants of medical-cannabis legislation:

• LB 110 (2019) — medical cannabis; died in committee.
• LB 474 (2021) — comprehensive medical; filibustered, fell short of 33 cloture.
• LB 588 (2023) — Medicinal Cannabis Act; indefinitely postponed.
• Three ballot drives (2020, 2022, 2024).

Former Sen. Adam Morfeld (D-Lincoln)

Former Sen. Adam Morfeld (D-Lincoln) co-sponsored the I-437/438 ballot petitions. Now executive director of Civic Nebraska. Morfeld’s post-legislative civic-engagement role has continued the public advocacy.

Bipartisan Reform Allies

Bipartisan supporters of LB 677:

• Sen. Danielle Conrad (D-Lincoln) — sponsored LB 651 (2025) regulatory framework; consistent reform vote.
• Sen. George Dungan (D-Lincoln) — consistent reform vote.
• Sen. Terrell McKinney (D-Omaha) — sponsored LB 705 (2025) expansion + LB 634 (2023) recreational Cannabis Conviction Clean Slate.
• Sen. Ashlei Spivey (D) — co-sponsored LB 705.
• Sen. Megan Hunt (Lincoln) — progressive nonpartisan / Democrat; consistent reform vote.
• Sen. Jane Raybould (D-Lincoln).
• Sen. Wendy DeBoer (D-Bennington).
• Sen. Glen Meyer.
• Sen. Stan Clouse.

Patient Families — The Public Faces

The Eggers Family

Crista and Colton Eggers. Colton suffers from severe epilepsy with frequent seizures.

The Gillen Family (Bellevue)

Dominic and Shelley Gillen of Bellevue, parents of Will Gillen (now 23). Will has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of drug-resistant epilepsy. Dominic Gillen estimates Will has experienced more than 450,000 seizures.

The Bronson Family (Bellevue)

Matt and Liz Bronson of Bellevue, parents of Teddy — a young child with severe epilepsy.

Bill Hawkins — Nebraska Hemp Company

Bill Hawkins of the Nebraska Hemp Company has been a bridge advocate spanning hemp industry interests and patient-advocacy. Hawkins led industry lobbying against LB 316 (2025) hemp ban and supports broader medical-cannabis access.

National Allied Organizations

• Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) — mpp.org/states/nebraska. Most current implementation tracker; campaign infrastructure support.
• NORML Nebraska — norml.org/laws/item/nebraska-laws-penalties.
• ACLU of Nebraska — aclunebraska.org. Civil-liberties advocacy; pretrial-diversion and drug-policy reform.

The Coalition’s 2026-2027 Strategy

The reform coalition’s near-term priorities:

1. NE Supreme Court rulings: Win on Kuehn v. Evnen appeal to solidify ground for licensure.
2. 2026 election cycle: Cavanaugh NE-2 congressional bid; expand pro-reform legislative caucus through term-limited turnover.
3. 2027 legislative session: Successor bill to LB 677 with broader coalition.
4. Physician-recruitment: Address the in-state-physician registration drought.
5. Patient-protection litigation: Challenge commission caps inconsistent with I-437 voter intent.
6. Federal Schedule III implementation: Leverage rescheduling for state-law alignment.

Related on this site: LB 1235 (2026), LB 677 (2025), Pillen / Hilgers / Kuehn / Evnen.