Nebraska lawmakers tried changing voter-approved laws. A new effort wants to tamp down on that

Organizers behind several successful petition drives are filing yet another petition, but one that aims to provide an insurance policy for any petition passed by voters.

The petition to create a constitutional amendment, which the group Respect Nebraska Voters announced Thursday, would “change the number of state lawmakers required to overturn or alter initiatives voters have passed into law from two-thirds of the state legislature to four-fifths.”

A news release from the group said the proposed constitutional amendment also requires the same four-fifths threshold to pass new laws affecting the initiative and referendum process, and provides more protections around the public’s ability to bring initiatives.

The Respect Nebraska Voters group, which includes nonprofits Women’s Fund of Omaha and Nebraska Appleseed, announced on Thursday an effort to “ensure state lawmakers respect the will of the people once voters have spoken at the ballot box.”

Petition sponsor Jo Giles with the Women's Fund of Omaha said she's heard from many Nebraskans who were upset that some senators took aim with successful ballot measures.

"We're now seeing lawmakers going against the will of the people, and we think that, that's not right and that lawmakers should respect Nebraskans' vote," Giles said.

Dawn Essink, a sponsor for the proposed constitutional amendment, helped collect signatures for several recent petitions and wants to deter politicians from changing legislation passed in elections.

“This initiative protects our right to propose and vote on laws that put hardworking families first and ensures that when Nebraskans make a decision, politicians respect it,” Essink said in a news release. “The bottom line is that Nebraskans are tired of politicians and special interests undermining what we’ve already voted for, and we’re ready to do something about it.”

For the constitutional amendment petition to qualify for the ballot, sponsors must gather valid signatures from 10% of Nebraska voters, including valid signatures from at least 5% of voters in 38 of the state’s counties by July 2026. The petition joins a group of others that have been announced for the 2026 election cycle.

The campaign comes after several elections where voters approved wide-ranging ballot measures only to face a hacksaw in the Nebraska Legislature. Senators tried last legislative session to scale back laws ranging from medical cannabis to paid sick leave and minimum wage.

The medical cannabis and minimum wage laws skirted by without change, but senators successfully narrowed the paid sick leave law, which was overwhelmingly voted through by Nebraskans last November. It required all businesses in Nebraska to give employees paid sick leave.

The measure said workers in businesses with 20 or more employees could earn and use up to 56 hours a year; workers in smaller businesses could earn and use up to 40 hours. State senators chose to exclude businesses with 10 or fewer employees from the paid sick leave requirement.

Lawmakers who supported the watered-down version argued it was needed to avoid increasing costs for small businesses to the point where they could be forced out of business. Opponents argued throughout the legislative session that the change would defy the will of the voters.

State senators made a similar attempt against a new minimum wage law that voters approved in 2022. The ballot measure aimed to raise the state’s minimum wage by $1.50 per year through 2026. Sen. Jane Raybould, the lead supporter of the proposal for a lower minimum wage, pushed to lower the wage for younger workers. And an amendment tied to the stalled bill seeks to water down future increases that the initiative had tied to inflation. Senators ran out of time in the 2025 legislative session to push through changes, but the bill still remains on final reading and is expected to be considered next session.

During debate on the changes, Raybould argued that she was trying to balance the interests of businesses and employees.

“We have been repeatedly accused of undermining the will of our voters, and to me, this is nothing more than a prolonged narrative of what they’re trying to have you believe,” Raybould said during the session. “I can tell you with 100% certainty that every single senator here understands the impact of your vote, understands your voice and what you intended.”

In the same legislative session, Sen. Danielle Conrad consistently argued against altering voter-approved laws, saying she understood the reaction of people who had worked to get voters to approve the paid sick leave requirement.

“They are rightly aghast at what is happening in this Legislature this session, where the hubris and the arrogance and the disdain on display for both the will of the voters and the working poor is palpable,” Conrad said.