Bill weakening Nebraska paid sick leave passes, but Dems stall effort to slow minimum wage growth
Source: Nebraska Examiner
Push by State Sen. Jane Raybould for smaller wage increases falls to a filibuster
By: Juan Salinas II - May 28, 2025 8:56 pm
LINCOLN — A majority of Nebraska Democrats and one Republican in the officially nonpartisan Legislature on Wednesday blocked merging a proposal that would have slowed the state’s voter-approved minimum wage increases with a bill set to weaken voter-passed paid sick leave protections.
State Sen. Jane Raybould filed her once-defeated minimum wage proposal as an amendment to Lincoln State Sen. Beau Ballard’s Legislative Bill 415 after Speaker John Arch decided not to reschedule her stand-alone bill due to time constraints.
Lawmakers were unable to consider the amendment — which was likely to pass — because Democratic-aligned lawmakers had already filed several motions to filibuster Ballard’s original proposal.
Raybould said her reason for wanting to act now had to do with the political dynamics facing her bill if the lawmakers wait. She said it would be harder to reduce pay for young people after the fact.
State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, center, talks with State Sens. Paul Strommen of Sidney and Kathleen Kauth of the Millard area on May 28, 2025. Raybould sponsored a measure to slow voter-approved minimum wage increases while Strommen sponsored a measure to weaken voter-approved paid sick leave. Kauth chairs the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/28/bill-weakening-nebraska-paid-sick-leave-passes-but-dems-stall-effort-to-slow-minimum-wage-growth/