2 days Ago
After eight hours of debate across two days, Nebraska lawmakers overcame a filibuster Tuesday to give first-round approval to a proposed law that would limit annual increases to the state's minimum wage that 58.7% of voters approved less than three years ago. The Legislature voted to 33-16 to end Tuesday's filibuster of Lincoln Sen.
Jane Raybould's proposal that drew fierce opposition from her Democratic colleagues who cast the measure as an attack on the will of Nebraska voters. In an unusual vote that suggests the bill's path to becoming law remains uncertain, the Legislature voted to 33-16 to end Tuesday's filibuster of Lincoln Sen. Jane Raybould's proposal that drew fierce opposition from her Democratic colleagues who cast the measure as an attack on the will of Nebraska voters.
Moments later, when lawmakers voted to advance the bill (LB258) to the second of three rounds of debate, only 32 lawmakers backed the bill — a difference that could prove crucial if the bill reaches the final round, where it would need the support of a supermajority of 33 senators to pass due to its attempt to alter a voter-approved law. People are also reading..
. Under the law enacted by voters in 2022, Nebraska's minimum wage is set to climb to $15 an hour next January and increase annually with the cost of living each year after. Raybould's proposal would cap future increases to the minimum wage at 1.
5% beginning in 2027 while also allowing businesses to pay children younger than 16 less than minimum wage. The bill (LB258) would allow businesses to pay children between 14 and 16 years old a minimum wage of $13.50 an hour while paying those between 16 and 18 years old a 90-day "training wage" equal to 75% of the minimum wage starting in 2027.
Sen. Stan Clouse, a Republican from Kearney, was the sole lawmaker to vote to end the filibuster against the bill while voting not to send it onto the second round, which required only 25 votes. In remarks to reporters following Tuesday's vote, he took issue with the provision in Raybould's bill that would limit increases to the minimum wage at 1.
5% but allow for wages to remain stagnant when the cost of living doesn't grow. Stan Clouse Clouse instead called on Raybould to establish a guaranteed, fixed-rate annual increase to win his support, which he pledged to withhold in future rounds of debate if the bill isn't amended. "I'm on an island," he said.
"But I think that's — I need to do what I think is right." Raybould, a Democrat who co-owns the parent company of Russ's Market and Super Saver, implored her colleagues to back the measure across two days of intense debate, saying the bill seeks "to strike a balance" and pushing back on critics who accused her of attempting to undermine the will of voters, 75% of whom in Raybould's district voted for the minimum wage increase. A former grocery chain executive who retired as the vice president of her family's business Monday, Raybould said her proposal would help ensure Nebraska teens can still secure jobs, which she said would be made more difficult by the state's looming $15 wage floor combined with labor laws that limit what hours and in what positions youths can work.
"I know my colleagues are saying, 'You don't understand. Our young people (work to) help their families,'" Raybould said. "And I want to say to my colleagues, 'You don't understand that folks are not gonna hire 14- to 15-year-olds.
So how can they help their families if they actually don't get a job?'" Raybould and her Republican allies in the the formally-nonpartisan Legislature warned, too, that continuous cost-of-living increases to the minimum wage would force small business to slow hiring, lay off workers or close. But Democrats lined up in opposition to the proposal, pointing to the 2022 election results in which more than 57% of voters — including voters in 37 of Nebraska's 49 legislative districts — backed the hike to the state's minimum wage, which lawmakers have never voted to raise. "The people, multiple times in Nebraska, have said, 'We want modest, meaningful increases in minimum wage,'" said Sen.
Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who led opposition against the bill and repeatedly called out Raybould by name as she railed against the measure. Conrad "Carve-outs and caps are not part of what the citizens approved," she said. "And it's not for you to second-guess it.
" Nebraskans in 2016 voted to raise the state's minimum wage — which was until then tied to the $7.25 federal minimum wage — to $9 per hour in a move that Raybould lauded and campaigned on as a candidate for lieutenant governor that year. Both the 2016 initiative and the one in 2022 came after attempts to raise the state's minimum wage stalled in the Legislature, where the efforts faced opposition from conservatives.
"The people went to the ballot box and voted for this because this body elected not to move something forward out of committee multiple times," said Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, whose 2021 effort to gradually raise the state's minimum wage to $20 over the course of 10 years failed to advance from the Business and Labor Committee. "Businesses didn't raise wages like they should've and didn't keep up with inflation and then the people were like, 'We're fed up,'" McKinney said.
"'We're tired of working to survive. We're just trying to make it.' McKinney "And they're still living paycheck-to-paycheck on $15.
But at least it's something better, especially for the young people — and this is attempting to strip it away. And that is just sad." The assault on Raybould's bill at times turned personal.
Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt said she had "never seen such a blatant, bald-faced, self-serving, selfish, unethical example of self-dealing," referring to Raybould's status as a grocery chain owner. Hunt Hours later, after debate had ceased and her bill had advanced, Raybould said she felt "pretty beat up.
" "Moving on to the next round, after some recovery," she said. Tuesday's vote marked the second time in a week that lawmakers voted to narrow a law enacted by Nebraska voters. The Legislature on Friday gave first-round approval to a bill that would exclude certain employees from the paid sick leave law passed by nearly 75% of voters in November .
Huskers inspire youth; smoke in the air; indoor golf boom Meet Nebraska state senators making laws in 2025 District 49 Bob Andersen Omaha Elected 2024 402-471-2725 [email protected] District 14 John Arch La Vista Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2730 jarch@leg.
ne.gov District 18 Christy Armendariz Omaha Elected 2022 402-471-2618 [email protected].
gov District 21 Beau Ballard Lincoln Appointed 2023, elected 2024 402-471-2673 [email protected] District 25 Carolyn Bosn Lincoln Appointed 2023, elected 2024 402-471-2731 cbosn@leg.
ne.gov District 29 Eliot Bostar Lincoln Elected 2020, 2024 402-471-2734 [email protected].
gov District 32 Tom Brandt Plymouth Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2711 [email protected] District 9 John Cavanaugh Omaha Elected 2020, 2024 402-471-2723 jcavanaugh@leg.
ne.gov District 6 Machaela Cavanaugh Omaha Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2714 [email protected].
gov District 2 Robert Clements Elmwood Appt. 2017, elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2613 [email protected].
gov District 37 Stanley Clouse Kearney Elected 2024 402-471-2726 [email protected] District 46 Danielle Conrad Lincoln Elected 2022 402-471-2720 dconrad@leg.
ne.gov District 10 Wendy DeBoer Bennington Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2718 [email protected].
gov District 40 Barry DeKay Niobrara Elected 2022 402-471-2801 [email protected] District 30 Myron Dorn Adams Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2620 mdorn@leg.
ne.gov District 19 Robert Dover Norfolk Appointed 2022, elected 2024 402-471-2929 [email protected].
gov District 26 George Dungan Lincoln Elected 2022 402-471-2610 [email protected] District 20 John Fredrickson Omaha Elected 2022 402-471-2622 jfredrickson@leg.
ne.gov District 7 Dunixi Guereca Omaha Elected 2024 402-471-2721 [email protected].
gov District 1 Bob Hallstrom Syracuse Elected 2024 402-471-2733 [email protected] District 16 Ben Hansen Blair Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2728 bhansen@leg.
ne.gov District 48 Brian Hardin Gering Elected 2022 402-471-2802 [email protected].
gov District 36 Rick Holdcroft Bellevue Elected 2022 402-471-2642 [email protected] District 24 Jana Hughes Seward Elected 2022 402-471-2756 jhughes@leg.
ne.gov District 8 Megan Hunt Omaha Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2722 [email protected].
gov District 44 Teresa Ibach Sumner Elected 2022 402-471-2805 [email protected] District 42 Mike Jacobson North Platte Appt.
2022, elected 2022 402-471-2729 [email protected] District 5 Margo Juarez Omaha Elected 2024 402-471-2710 mjuarez@leg.
ne.gov District 31 Kathleen Kauth Omaha Appt. 2022, elected 2022, 2024 402-471-2327 kkauth@leg.
ne.gov District 34 Loren Lippincott Central City Elected 2022 402-471-2630 [email protected].
gov District 33 Dan Lonowski Hastings Elected 2024 402-471-2712 [email protected] District 41 Dan McKeon Amherst Elected 2024 402-471-2885 dmckeon@leg.
ne.gov District 11 Terrell McKinney Omaha Elected 2020, 2024 402-471-2612 [email protected].
gov District 17 Glen Meyer Pender Elected 2024 402-471-2716 [email protected] District 22 Mike Moser Columbus Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2715 mmoser@leg.
ne.gov District 38 Dave Murman Glenvil Elected 2018, 2022 402-471-2732 [email protected].
gov District 27 Jason Prokop Lincoln Elected 2024 402-471-2632 [email protected] District 35 Dan Quick Grand Island Elected 2024 402-471-2617 dquick@leg.
ne.gov District 28 Jane Raybould Lincoln Elected 2022 402-471-2633 [email protected].
gov District 12 Merv Riepe Ralston Elected 2022 402-471-2623 [email protected] District 3 Victor Rountree Bellevue Elected 2024 402-471-2627 vrountree@leg.
ne.gov District 45 Rita Sanders Bellevue Elected 2020, 2024 402-471-2615 [email protected].
gov District 39 Tony Sorrentino Elkhorn Elected 2024 402-471-2885 [email protected] District 13 Ashlei Spivey Omaha Elected 2024 402-471-2727 aspivey@leg.
ne.gov District 43 Tanya Storer Whitman Elected 2024 402-471-2628 [email protected].
gov District 23 Jared Storm David City Elected 2024 402-471-2719 [email protected] District 47 Paul Strommen Sidney Elected 2024 402-471-2616 pstrommen@leg.
ne.gov District 4 R. Brad von Gillern Elkhorn Elected 2022 402-471-2621 bvongillern@leg.
ne.gov District 15 Dave Wordekemper Fremont Elected 2024 402-471-2625 [email protected].
gov Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or [email protected] . On Twitter @andrewwegley Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
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