LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska lawmakers could get another chance to vote on a bill that would scale back scheduled increases to the state's minimum wage after approving a motion May 22 to reconsider a failed vote from the previous week.
The bill, LB258, introduced by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would replace a voter-approved plan to annually adjust the minimum wage based on the Midwest Consumer Price Index with a fixed annual increase of 1.75%. Voters passed the current law in November 2022, setting the minimum wage to rise incrementally to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026, with inflation-based adjustments thereafter. The wage is currently $13.50 an hour.
In addition to changing the adjustment formula, LB258 would establish a $13.50-an-hour youth minimum wage for workers ages 14 and 15, and apply the same rate through 2026 to the 90-day training wage for employees under age 20. Both the youth and training wages would increase by 1.5% annually starting in 2027, with youth wages rising every five years beginning in 2030. Emancipated minors would be excluded from the youth wage provision.
The bill fell two votes short of the required 33-vote supermajority for final passage on May 14, failing 31-17. Measures that alter laws enacted by ballot initiative require a two-thirds majority in the Legislature.
Sen. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, who supported the bill but did not vote during the May 14 roll call, filed the motion to reconsider, citing the absence of another supporter at the time. Ballard said while rare, reconsideration is allowed under legislative rules and has precedent, including in 1984.
“I think this is the right motion, it is well in order and it’s the right thing for this Legislature,” Ballard said during debate.
Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha opposed the move, calling it “shameful” and a break from legislative norms.
“Proponents of this measure lost fair and square and now they want a do-over,” Hunt said.
The motion to reconsider passed on a 33-16 vote. No new date has been set for a second vote on final passage of LB258.