State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks sent an email to her colleagues Saturday, along with a memo outlining the legal basis for having a virtual session. She also sent a copy of a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that she said supports her arguments.

A day earlier, Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk announced that he was calling senators back to Lincoln on Monday to authorize emergency appropriations in response to the spread of the coronavirus. The emergency session is scheduled to last three days.

Pansing Brooks said she understands the need to act quickly on Gov. Pete Ricketts’ request for $58.6 million in emergency funds. But she said there is no need to meet in the same physical space to accomplish that task.

“Can any one of us be reasonably assured that we will not infect a colleague, and thereby their family, or be infected by a colleague and thereby infect our family, with this rash assembly, which could be quickly replaced by remote technology?” she asked.

She cited concerns about the health and safety of lawmakers, many of whom are over age 60 or have underlying health problems, such as heart disease, lung disease or diabetes. She also said some may have been exposed to the virus without knowing it.

Pansing Brooks cited a 1933 State Supreme Court case that considered the constitutionality of the recently installed electronic voting board. The court concluded that the then-new technology complied with the state constitution because all votes were public and could be recorded in the legislative journal if requested. She argued that the same would be true if lawmakers met via Zoom or a similar technology.

“There is no provision in the Nebraska Constitution that requires that members must be present in the legislative chamber to vote, or present with each other for that matter,” she said.

Neither Scheer nor Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, the chairman of the Legislature’s Executive Board, immediately responded to messages seeking comment.

Last week, Ricketts issued an executive order allowing other state and local governmental boards, commissions and other public bodies to meet via video conference, teleconference or other electronic means, as long as the meetings are open to the public and citizens have an opportunity to participate.