Enhanced penalties for assaults on health professionals expanded, advanced

After eight hours of debate over two days, lawmakers gave first-round approval April 16 to a bill that would expand existing penalty enhancements for assaulting health care workers.

Under current law, a person who assaults an officer, emergency responder, state correctional employee or health care professional faces enhanced penalties. LB322, as introduced by Kearney Sen. Stan Clouse, would add a pharmacist engaged in their official duties to that list.

Clouse said pharmacies are just as vulnerable to workplace violence as other health care professional settings due to the presence of large amounts of prescription medications and cash. A survey of nearly 2,000 pharmacists indicated that 39% had experienced an incident of workplace violence, he said.

“LB322 would recognize that our pharmacy teams are on the frontlines of health care,” Clouse said.

The bill would enhance penalties as follows:
• from a Class I or Class II misdemeanor to a Class IIIA felony for third-degree assault, or when an individual intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury;
• from a Class IIA to a Class II felony for second-degree assault, or when an individual intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury using a dangerous instrument; and
• from a Class II to a Class ID felony for first-degree assault, or when an individual intentionally causes serious bodily injury.

A Class II or Class ID felony conviction carries a maximum punishment of up to 50 years in prison. A Class IIIA felony conviction is punishable by up to three years imprisonment and up to 18 months of post-release supervision, a $10,000 fine or both.

Similar to requirements for hospitals, LB322 would require posted signage at pharmacies stating that assaulting a pharmacist or striking them with bodily fluid is a serious crime and may be punishable as a felony.

The bill also would make several technical changes to harmonize Nebraska’s assault statutes and update the definition of public safety officers.

A Judiciary Committee amendment would incorporate provisions of Lincoln Sen. Beau Ballard’s LB26, which would extend current assault protections for licensed health care professionals to all hospital and clinic employees.

Ballard said health care workers represent only 10% of the overall workforce but experience 48% of non-fatal injuries related to workplace violence.

Over the past year, he said, Nebraska hospitals reported an average of 41.5 incidents of workplace violence per facility, with 34% of these incidents targeting unlicensed hospital staff.

“Every hospital worker plays a role in keeping patients safe and ensuring that health care is delivered efficiently,” Ballard said. “All hospital staff face the same risk of violence and deserve equal legal protection.”

Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln supported the bill and the committee amendment. Lawmakers have an obligation to keep people safe in their workplace, she said, and stricter penalties can deter crime.

Bosn referenced data from the Lincoln Regional Center, which showed a decrease in assaults after the Legislature enacted protections for licensed health care professionals in 2012.

Bennington Sen. Wendy DeBoer opposed the proposal and filed a series of motions intended to delay a vote on the measure.

Both the bill and the committee amendment likely would disproportionately impact individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, DeBoer said, who may unintentionally cause harm to others due to their conditions.

Additionally, she said, increased penalties for certain professionals have not stopped assaults.

“All people in this state, all people deserve to be safe,” DeBoer said. “This … is not about any one individual or saying that any one individual does not deserve to be safe in their workplace. This [is] about saying that we need to develop the best system so that all of us can be safe.”

Lincoln Sen. George Dungan also opposed LB322. He said the measure would not effectively prevent such crimes and could worsen Nebraska’s prison overcrowding crisis.

“Seeking to increase penalties does not achieve the goal of reducing crime,” Dungan said. “All it does is put more people behind bars without any hope for actual rehabilitation, or any hope to actually fix the underlying problem.”

After eight hours of discussion, Clouse offered a motion to invoke cloture, which ends debate and forces a vote on the bill and any underlying amendments. The motion was adopted on a 36-8 vote.

Senators then voted 33-8 to adopt the committee amendment before advancing LB322 to select file 37-8.