Nebraska lawmakers voted Thursday to restrain future increases to the state’s minimum wage and create a lower, subminimum wage for certain teenage workers.
Introduced by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, LB 258 passed 33-16. The bill modifies the 2022 ballot question, approved by 59% of voters, which hiked the state’s lowest legal wage by $1.50 through 2026, arriving at the current minimum of $15.00/hr. The initiative also sought to avoid further wage stagnation by adjusting the state’s minimum wage each year based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Midwest Region starting in 2027. Simply put: adjusted to the cost of living.
But under the new law, expected to be signed by Governor Jim Pillen, future increases will be fixed at 1.75% annually. Opponents to the cap say this will likely result in slower wage growth. If signed, the bill would take effect by mid-July.
Additionally, the bill creates a new “youth minimum wage” option for employers. Workers age 14-15 can be paid $13.50/hr starting in July, with increases of 1.5% starting in 2030.
Under the bill, one wage would increase, however. LB 258 increases the state’s little used 90-day “training wage” to $13.50—up from $5.44, a number calculated as 75% of the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr. The new training wage will increase by 1.5% each year.
Raybould—whose family operates B&R Stores, the parent company of local grocery stores like Super Saver and Russ’s Market—said business groups “requested” this measure to make wage future increases “fixed and predictable.” She warned that some businesses, under a fluid wage system, may choose to cut jobs or hours to protect bottom lines. Supporters said Nebraska’s youth minimum wage would remain higher than other states.
The bill passed with majority support from the technically non-partisan Legislature’s registered republicans. Sen. Dave Wordekemper of Fremont was the lone conservative to vote against the bill. Raybould was the only Democrat to vote in favor.
“I find it particularly out of touch and striking that here, in the midst of an undeniable affordability crisis for working families, the first official act of this Nebraska legislature will be to cut the minimum wage,” said Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln.
Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, the body’s lone non-partisan progressive, echoed Conrad’s sentiments: “Families are asking us how are they going to keep up with the prices? How are they going to keep up with the cost of living? We’re answering by cutting their paychecks. That’s the headline. That’s what we’re doing.”
This bill was revived after failing last year.