LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts expressed sympathy Wednesday for the idea of calling a special legislative session to pass a law blocking vaccine mandates.

But the governor said he would not be willing to call such a session unless there were 33 senators willing to vote for such a law. That’s the number needed to overcome a likely filibuster by opponents.

“I don’t believe we have the votes to be able to pass something, so I’m not willing to call a special session,” Ricketts said when asked about the issue at an afternoon press conference.

As he has before, Ricketts promoted vaccination Wednesday as the best way to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He got vaccinated himself as soon as the shots were offered to people in his age group. But he remains adamantly opposed to vaccine mandates

“It absolutely should be a voluntary decision,” he said Wednesday.

At least one Nebraska lawmaker wants a special session to address vaccine mandates. State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard said he called the governor last month to urge him to bring lawmakers back for another special session on the issue. The Legislature recently completed a special session on redistricting.

“No one in Nebraska should ever have to lose his or her job or be compelled to get a vaccination they do not want in order to feed their family and pay their bills,” Erdman said in an editorial column. “Biden’s vaccine mandate constitutes a declaration of war against personal liberty, and so the State Legislature is now compelled to act.”

Sen. Mike Hilgers, the speaker of the Legislature, said Wednesday that he agreed with Ricketts’ assessment.

“I do not think there are 33 votes to pass a ban,” Hilgers said in a text message.

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