She is glad to have Clark's support. A lot of people in the Legislature have a deep respect for him, Wishart said.

"To be able to come back together and work on an issue, that means a lot to me," she said.

The bill will also have the support of many of the families with ill children who have worked hard in the past with Garrett on his medical cannabis bill (LB643). It was filibustered on the second round of debate last session and went down when it received only 30 of 33 needed votes.

Shari Lawlor, whose daughter Brooke, 24, has severe epilepsy, continues to be a supporter of the bill. She and Josie Kranz, on the board of Nebraska Families 4 Medical Cannabis, say they will wait and watch to see how the bill does this session.

If it doesn't pass, the group must make a decision on whether to step fully into an initiative petition drive to get the issue on the statewide ballot. They speculate it could cost about $1 million.

"Why go through all that if they're going to finally come around like the other 28 states have, and give some of these people a chance at a better quality of life?" Lawlor said.