Lower minimum wage falls short, foreign agent bill advances

By Fred Knapp , Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media

May 14, 2025, 6 p.m. ·

Sen. Tony Sorrentino listens to debate Wednesday (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News) — Sen. Tony Sorrentino listens to debate Wednesday. (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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A proposal to allow lower minimum wages for young workers fell short Wednesday in the Legislature, but the fight may not be over.

And lawmakers advanced a bill requiring Nebraska businesses and nonprofits to say whether or not they are agents of China or other so-called “adversary nations.”

The last time it was up for a vote, Sen. Jane Raybould’s bill for a lower minimum wage for young workers got exactly the 33 votes it needed.

But when the time came for a final vote Wednesday, only 32 supporters were on the legislative floor, with Sen. Tony Sorrentino missing.

As senators were polled, 31 voted for the bill. Sen. Beau Ballard, who supports the bill, voted “present” to try and save his right to ask for a revote later. So the bill got only 31 votes, meaning it failed to pass with sufficient support.

If enacted, the bill would allow a minimum wage of $13.50 an hour for 14- and 15-year-olds, instead of the $15 scheduled to go into place Jan. 1. It would also allow $13.50 as a training wage for workers aged 16-19 for the first 90 days on the job. And it would reduce future increases instead of tying them to inflation.

Afterward, Raybould said the fight for her proposal is not necessarily over.

“We are looking at whatever options that we have available to us within the rules to make sure that we can get something done this year, and if not, you know, there's always next year,” she said.

One possibility is that the minimum wage bill could be amended into another one narrowing the application of a paid sick leave requirement. Another would be to suspend the rules, but Raybould said she opposes that approach.

Raybould was asked about the reason for Sorrentino’s absence.

“I am not sure where Senator Sorrentino was. I think maybe it might have been a rookie error on his part, not realizing that, you know, for final reading, they do want every senator to be in their chairs,” she said.

Sorrentino declined to answer a question from Nebraska Public Media News about why he missed the vote. After Wednesday, only 11 business days remain in this legislative session, making it increasingly difficult to fit additional debate into the schedule.

Also Wednesday, senators advanced a proposal aimed at identifying foreign influence operations in Nebraska.

Introduced for Gov. Jim Pillen by Sen. Eliot Bostar, the bill would require people to register with the attorney general if they are lobbying or otherwise advocating for certain nations, including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

It also requires businesses and nonprofits operating in Nebraska to attest, in biennial registrations with the secretary of state’s office, that they are aware of the law and are complying with it.

Sen. Danielle Conrad likened that to asking American citizens to prove they are not spies.

“This really puts on its head, I think in many ways, core American values the presumption of innocence – you’re innocent until proven guilty. It casts suspicion on all Americans and all Nebraskans without cause,” she said.

Recalling former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman’s trade mission to Cuba, Conrad asked if the bill would restrict such activity.

“Have you had a chance to think through whether or not a measure like this would hinder the ability of a Nebraska leader or a Nebraska ag producer to continue those kinds of trade trips or trade deals?” she asked.

Bostar said he didn’t think so.

“No, I don't believe it would. I think truly at its core, this comes down to functionally working for a foreign, adversarial entity, and on their behalf, trying to engage in some level of influence operations," he said. "I think economic trips, trying to engender additional trade and development -- that's outside of this."

Conrad also questioned the effect of the bill’s treatment of foreign political parties.

“Would this impact, for example, the work of Americans who belong to a communist party and who want to advocate for a different economic format?” she asked.

Once again, Bostar said it would not.

“No, okay, it certainly wouldn't do anything in that case. But even, you know, foreign political parties attempting influence, this doesn't actually prohibit any of those activities. It provides a transparency structure around that,” he said.

Sen. John Cavanaugh read and questioned wording about documents the bill requires be supplied to the attorney general.

“'Such other statements, information or documents pertinent to the purpose of this section as the attorney general, comma, having due regard for national security and public interest, comma, may, from time to time, require.’” Cavanaugh read. “I don't know why is that there? Is that meant to bolster the justification for a blanket grant of authority to the Attorney General? It's just weird,” he said.

However, Cavanaugh withdrew an amendment proposing that people be required to register with the Accountability and Disclosure Commission rather than the attorney general, citing a lack of support. He later said he withdrew it to work with Bostar on a version that both could agree on.

Senators did adopt an amendment from Bostar softening a requirement that colleges and universities expel violators of the act and ban them from campus. That will now be up to individual schools. Senators then gave the bill second-round approval on a voice vote.