Nebraska senators propose changes to passed ballot initiatives

By Macy Byars, Intern Nebraska Public Media News

6 de Marzo de 2025 a las 16:56 ·

Sue Martin speaks about minimum wage and paid sick leave — Sue Martin, President/Secretary-Treasurer of the Nebraska State AFL-CIO, speaks out against LB258 and LB698 at a Capitol press conference on Thursday morning. (Brian Beach/Nebraska Public Media)

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Two bills introduced in the Nebraska legislature propose changes to the paid sick leave and minimum wage increase ballot initiatives passed by Nebraskans. If passed, these bills would restrict which Nebraskans can take advantage of their benefits.

LB698 would make temporary workers, seasonal agricultural workers and people under 16 unentitled to paid sick leave. The bill, introduced by Sen. Paul Strommen, also carves out exemptions for employers with less than 11 employees.

The Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, the law passed when 75% of voters approved Initiative 436 last November, lets employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work. There are limits and exceptions carved out for government workers and small businesses.

At the bill’s hearing, Strommen said changing the law will prevent businesses from higher costs they will have to pass onto consumers.

“The sum of this bill is to ensure that both employees and employers in our most vulnerable small businesses in the state are not finding themselves in a position where they're going to have to start letting folks go,” Strommen said.

Strommen owns a small business in Sidney, Nebraska. His bill has not yet made it out of the Business & Labor Committee.

LB258 modifies a ballot initiative passed by Nebraskans in 2022. Initiative 433 raises the minimum wage from $9/hour to $15/hour by 2026 and codifies a yearly increase based on the cost of living.

Sen. Jane Raybould introduced LB258 to set a 1.5% cap on the yearly increase. The law bases the increase on the Midwest Consumer Price Index from the previous August. These numbers are tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average Midwest CPI is 3.8% over the last 50 years, but recent years have seen higher cost-of-living increases.

The bill would create a youth minimum wage for 14-15 year olds set to 75% of Nebraska’s minimum wage. It would also modify the training wage, which can be paid to 16-17 year olds for the first 90 days of their employment. The training wage is currently $5.44 but would also be raised to 75% of Nebraska’s minimum wage.

Raybould said that employers hiring at minimum wage are already struggling to keep up.

“Most employers are hiring at or just above the minimum wage are in industries that operate on razor thin profit margins,” Raybould said. “Increasing their costs forces these businesses to raise prices, reduce job and training opportunities, decrease benefits, or cut some of the services that they provide.”

Raybould is the vice president of a company that owns and operates grocery stores across the state called B&R Stores. She made LB258 her priority bill for the session, making it one of the first in line for debate.

Organizations supporting worker’s rights voiced their opposition to the bill at a press conference at the Capitol on Thursday.

The President/Secretary-Treasurer of the Nebraska State AFL-CIO, Sue Martin, spoke on behalf of pro-labor policies.

“Throughout history, this type of advocacy has led to safer workplaces child labor laws to protect the youngest in our communities and fair wages for all workers today,” Martin said. “We want to make it clear that it's time to care for working Nebraskans.”

Martin said the Nebraska State AFl-CIO backs voters who were simply responding to cost-of-living increases.

“We aren't waiting for the free market to decide to support us and our families but rather working to ensure that as drivers of our economy, we have what we need to be productive at work, provide for our families and contribute positively to our communities,” Martin said.

Becky Gould, the Executive Director of Nebraska Appleseed, said Nebraskans knew what they were voting for, and lawmakers shouldn’t interfere.

“I did a lot of canvassing of both initiatives,” Gould said. “You're required, when you are asking folks to sign, to read exactly what the initiative does. I had a lot of conversations with folks at the door about the indexing provision. People were experiencing a lot of inflation, and they knew exactly what that would do and why it was important.”

The Nebraska Constitution requires a supermajority of 33 votes to pass bills that amend passed ballot initiatives, Gould said lawmakers are undermining what Nebraskans voted into law.

“I think that provision that's there in the Constitution is there for an exceptional circumstance, and this isn't it,” Gould said. “Nebraskans knew what they were voting for, and it's really concerning to see a small group of senators go against what Nebraskans wanted.”

Raybould responded to this type of criticism in the bill’s initial hearing, saying it’s occasionally necessary for legislators to curb unintended consequences.

“Oftentimes, the ballot is limited to the language that you can use and construct to explain all the nuances of a piece of legislation,” Raybould said. “We are not trying to undermine it. It is our role as legislators to find those fixes in the policy that need to be fixed and to make sure that we are doing everything to implement it as our voters have said. However, it is our job, and sometimes it necessitates us to clarify and qualify.”