Week of March 31, 2025
LB 415 Amendment Undermining Paid Sick Leave advances
Late last week, senators narrowly voted to advance LB 415 (Ballard) with committee AM 545, which was the root of opposition for labor unions and groups advocating for workers’ rights.
While the underlying bill LB 415 adds in some noncontroversial clarifying changes for the initiative’s implementation, as amended by AM 545 it:
- excludes from paid sick leave eligibility under the Act temporary and seasonal agricultural workers, workers under age 16, and those that work for businesses employing 10 or less employees, and
- removes key legal protections for workers facing retaliation for using leave they’re entitled to under the law, leaving the Act without much “teeth” for enforcement and workers with less recourse if their rights to paid sick leave are violated.
While proponents of the amended measure spoke in favor of what they view as reasonable restrictions on the initiative law language that will make it less of a burden for employers to implement, opponents raised a wide range of criticisms to this approach, pointing out the unfairness of the specific changes in the amendment but also in the larger movement from the conservative majority to supersede the “Second House’s” voice after initiative laws have been passed by voters. This has given way to what is likely only the first of many rounds of debate over a larger question as to what the legislature’s authority and role is, if any, to insert itself and make changes to laws passed through the citizen initiative process.
Citing a state constitutional provision that grants the legislature the power to make modifications to ballot initiatives, proponents and opponents of AM 545 interpreted the scope and purpose of that authority differently: some said it’s there for cases like what’s exemplified in the underlying LB 415, where there were real-life practical concerns and gaps in the language that needed to be fleshed out for effective implementation, but not altogether making new or different policy decisions that run counter to the spirit of the ballot initiative. Others said that the legislature has a place as the state’s lawmaking authority to ensure that voter-initiated statutory changes are thoughtfully and deliberately implemented, especially when language drafted for ballot measures is not always infallible. This issue and the more complex legal and historical nuances around it is likely to remain at the forefront as the body takes up LB 258, Sen. Raybould’s minimum wage restriction bill, in the coming week.
After a full filibuster brought by many of the body’s progressives, the measure won the support of all of the body’s 33 conservatives and Sen. Raybould to advance with 34 votes. It will still face 2 more rounds of voting during which lawmakers are likely to see multiple attempts at tweaking or restoring some pieces that were removed or altered under AM 545: Multiple senators have indicated they have concerns about the removal of workers’ right to private cause of action to bring lawsuits if their rights are violated under the Act, and there may be some lack of consensus on subsequent rounds of debate about the appropriate threshold for “small” businesses.
Organizations and individuals who support Nebraskans’ right to paid sick leave should be reaching out to their district senator with concrete stories, testimonials and local data illustrating why paid sick leave is essential to voters in their community. Even if you don’t come armed with a compelling story or statistic, sharing broad arguments about why you or your organization believe in fair sick leave protections for workers is important (and always better than doing nothing!). Senators that are dug in to a particular stance and that have the pressure of the majority and the large corporate community behind them need to hear feedback to counter that perspective from their electorate that don’t appreciate their votes being discounted. Conversely, reaching out with an affirmative “thank you” to those who voted to respect the will of the voters and keep sick leave protections in place is always appropriate and appreciated. See the vote on AM 545 here.
What’s Next
LB 258, Sen. Raybould’s priority bill that would again subvert the will of the voters by placing several restrictions on minimum wage increases that were approved by a majority of Nebraskans, is on the agenda. Recall that the bill carves out reduced wages for young workers under age 20 and places caps on crucial cost of living increases. It keeps getting delayed due to filibusters on measures scheduled ahead of it, but if Speaker Arch keeps to the currently scheduled agenda, it should be taken up sometime midweek.
To get real nerdy with it, here’s a brief primer on how to decode the legislative debate clock to estimate when a bill you’re watching might come up, using LB 258 as an example: Remember that bills can receive a maximum of 8, 4, and 2 hours of debate on General, Select, and Final Reading for cloture, respectively, if they are contested. Looking at Monday’s agenda: The Quick bill (LB 113) up first on Select was contentious on the last round, and the DeKay bill after it (LB 246) seems to have split reception among conservatives. I’m not sure if Quick’s LB 257 will see issues leading to extended debate or filibuster; the lack of amendments and motions on it is a good initial sign that it may not. Those of us that have been around for a while look for hints like this: What happened in previous rounds? Does the committee statement show division among senators or interest groups? Is the issue itself contentious? Does it have amendments or motions filed on it that could signal potential problems? Sometimes filibusters come as a total surprise, but these are signs to watch for.
So to make a rough estimation: If we assumed each bill before LB 258 got the maximum clock time, that’d be 4 (Select File, Quick bill) + 8 (General File, DeKay bill) + 8 (General File, Quick Bill) = 20 hours. As of now, we’re starting the first day of the week at 10:00am, all other days at 9:00am, with a break for lunch from 12:00-1:30pm, then debating until about 5:00pm. This could change, but the Speaker has not yet announced otherwise. So the first day of the week is about 5.5 hours of debate and others are 6.5, if lunch is an hour and a half. (Past speaker practice has been to end the final day of the week early, but we’re still awaiting a forthcoming announcement on that.)
So in this example we could loosely assume LB 258 could come up in the 20th hour of the week’s debate at the latest, if everything before it was filibustered and we keep to the current schedule. That would land early Thursday – though it could certainly come sooner if the bills ahead of it move more quickly.
