Last week, the United States Supreme Court announced it will hear Nebraska’s case against Colorado for failing to honor the terms of the 1923 South Platte River Compact. The case centers on Colorado’s failure to restrict junior water users whose use affects the water that should flow to Nebraska.
We all know how important water is, not only for our agricultural producers but also for our communities.
It is also important to remember that Nebraska and Colorado entered the Compact because, before the agreement, Nebraska could call for water down the South Platte River at any time. The compact was a compromise. However, Colorado has not upheld its end of the agreement. I sympathize with the Colorado farmers affected by this issue, but I am also concerned about Nebraskans who have been harmed because the agreement has not been honored.
I appreciate the work that Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and his staff have done to get us to this point. Mike is a great AG and has earned my respect from the time I first met him when he was serving as the speaker of the Legislature. I am confident that we will be well represented as this case moves forward.
It is expected that this litigation could take several years. In the meantime, Nebraska must remain committed to building the Perkins County Canal and vigorously defend our water entitlements under the Compact. I have always been hopeful that there could be some kind of settlement that allows both states to avoid litigation costs, but time will tell once this case is decided.
Other High Court rulings
The Supreme Court has also issued several opinions over the last few weeks, including upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho that restrict men from participating in women’s sports. Signatures have been submitted to a ballot initiative in Nebraska along a similar vein. I hope that Nebraskans get an opportunity to weigh in on this issue and it is ultimately passed.
So many have fought to create opportunities for women to participate in sports. In my mind, these measures are not about discriminating against men or transgender individuals; it is about protecting the ability of women and girls to compete in a fair environment.
I also read this week that Nebraska’s teen unemployment rate has tripled since the voter-approved minimum wage law took effect.
As you may recall, the ballot initiative raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2026. As passed, the law did not include an exception for workers under age 16. However, the Legislature later modified the initiative, with the required two-thirds majority vote, to allow employers to pay 14- and 15-year-olds a reduced wage of $13.50 per hour.
The Legislature’s change recognized that younger teens are limited in what jobs they can perform. For example, they cannot legally drive for work, lift items weighing more than 50 pounds, work late hours, or perform certain hazardous jobs. Because of these restrictions, younger workers may be less attractive to employers. When they must be paid the same wage as older workers who are not subject to the same limits, employers may be less likely to hire them.
All of these factors have made it harder for young people to get a first job and begin developing a strong work ethic. I believe minimum wage requirements should be carefully considered before they are imposed. Good intentions can still lead to unintended consequences when they meet reality.
Even with the minimum wage change made by the Legislature, the challenges younger workers face in finding employment may need further attention.
It is a privilege to represent you in the Nebraska Legislature, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding issues that are important to you. I can be reached at 402-471-2729 or by emailing me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov.
Mike Jacobson represents Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Thomas, Hooker and the majority of Perkins counties – Dist. 42 — in the Nebraska legislature.
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If teenagers were filling these jobs then the adult unemployment would be higher. Is it better to advocate for lower teenage wages that will ultimately put older folks in the unemployment line?
I also thought there were exceptions to the minimum wage rule for ages 16-19 within the first 90 days of employment. Am I mistaken?
Alias, according to the Nebraska Dept. of Labor, teenagers from 14-15 can be paid $13.50 an hour. Nebraska workers ages 16–19 can be paid a $13.50 training wage for up to 90 days.
Regarding your other point, teens often have different job duties than older folks.
Is he really surprised that the unemployment rate tripled for the teenage age bracket?!?! Seriously?!?! Let us ignore for now that legislatures sought fit to completely disregard what NEBRASKANS VOTED FOR and that they thought it was ok to just change what we wanted, but what they are telling teenagers right now is that their time and effort aren’t worth as much as an adults simply because they are teenagers. Why would a teenager (whose needs are being met by their parents, by the way) give up the time they can having fun or b spending with friends or, hell, even juggling schoolwork to stress about fitting in a new job with all of that stress only to be told LEGALLY that their time and effort is LESS valuable than that of someone 5 years older than them?
We aren’t even talking skill sets or work ethic….only something beyond their control….the year they were born now determines how much they make an hour.
You can have 2 people start a job at McDonald’s on the same day…both have zero experience with fast food. One a teenager and one a man in his 30’s. That alone means the teenager makes $1.50 less an hour. That is $30/week for 20 hours. That is $1,560 a year (I bought my very first car for less than that). The teenager could be a hard worker. Dependable. “Go-getter”…takes initiative type…..and the adult could be an alcoholic and a drug addict. Doing the bare minimum to get a paycheck. The teenager will know this. He will see this. He will also see that he will have to bend over backwards to get noticed in the hopes of getting an annual raise….still to come up short of the adult. So what kind of motivation would that teenager now have to do better? Be better? When he knows that nothing will make a difference in earning more than the adult? What incentive does that teenager have to ‘develop’ a work ethic that legislatives are complaining that young workers don’t have today when they are sending messages like this “your time and energy isn’t worth anything”…when the teenagers are smart enough to realize that they can just enjoy the free time and fun while they can, live at home and let Mom and dad take care of them (most already do anyways) and wait til they are no longer considered ‘teenagers’ THEN enter the job market at the same minimum wage as ‘CrackHead McGee’? This whole thing is a slap to the face as a teenager when the whole country is already mocking your generation as nothing but stupid lazy bums, then they pass a law saying that your time isn’t worth as much either…I don’t blame them one bit.
They think they are making it better for employers to hire teenagers, but in reality they are making employers less desirable to work FOR AS a teenager.
Kimberly, it is a minimum wage, not a maximum. An employer can give a raise for excellent work. Most do. And of course, an employer can fire the older man in your example.
Generally, teenagers need to learn things that adults know. If there was a blanket $15 minimum, the employer would be forced to pay a teenage trainee the same as an adult trainee, even the teenager who knows considerably less.
I do understand that it is a minimum wage, but as you said most teenagers need to learn things that adults already know. So most teenagers’ first jobs will actually be in the fast food business like in my example. In my experience most employers are not quick to give raises unless they are forced to. Even those ‘yearly’ evaluation raises are maybe a 25¢ or 50¢ at best. A teenager will have to work for 3 years (again at best) working his tail off and NEVER stopping out of line only just to still get to be even with the minimum STARTING wage of the crappy adult. Even if the crappy adult gets fired (and let’s be honest it takes a lot for people to get fired from McDonald’s here in town) that adult will still have earlier at least a few paychecks of doing the bare minimum to get paid more.
And with any job there is gonna be training that needs done. No single person is capable of walking into a NEW job with knowing 100% of what that jobs’ duties entail.
Our society has been telling this younger generation that they are lazy and stupid and good for nothing. This ‘minimum wage exception’ rule for teenagers is just a way for employers to steal from them with the backing of the law…
And then when the teenagers refuse to get jobs because they aren’t gonna spend their valuable youth breaking themselves for less than what an adult would make, society just points and goes “see we told you this generation is nothing but lazy stupid freeloaders”
Tell me… Would ANY of us adults today have just sat back and accepted this? Would and if us looked at this ‘law’ as teenagers and been like ‘yup I’m a stupid ignorant teenager so my time isn’t as valuable as an adults so I DERERVE be be paid less’?…or is it simply because we have been adults to long and we have forgotten what it was like to be teenagers… Let alone what it could possibly be like to be a teenager coming of age in today’s time when everything is expensive. I could afford to live alone when I graduated high school on one job WHILE going to collage. Teenagers now can’t afford that, not without a roommate…