A bill that would limit scheduled increases to the state’s minimum wage and establish a separate, lower wage for young Nebraskans was given narrow, second-round approval April 30 following a successful cloture motion.

Nebraskans voted at the November 2022 general election to increase the state minimum wage incrementally to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026. Once the minimum wage, which currently is $13.50 an hour, reaches $15 it is set to adjust annually based on the Midwest Consumer Price Index to account for cost-of-living increases.

LB 258, sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Jane Raybould, instead would increase the wage by the lesser of 1.5% or the CPI beginning Jan. 1, 2027.

Kearney Sen. Stan Clouse expressed concern about the potential for the minimum wage to become stagnant under Raybould’s proposal. He offered an amendment during select file debate, which was adopted 33-12, that instead would establish a fixed-rate increase to the state minimum wage of 1.75% annually.

Clouse said the change would provide a guaranteed increase for minimum wage earners while also allowing businesses to create budgets with certainty about their expenses.

Raybould supported the amendment, calling it a “reasonable compromise” that would provide predictability to both employers and employees.

“The whole goal behind LB 258 is to find the balance … that will benefit all Nebraskans,” Raybould said.

Sidney Sen. Paul Strommen supported the bill, saying large increases in the minimum wage could result in Nebraska businesses hiring fewer workers in order to increase efficiency by offsetting rising wage costs.

“At the end of the day, we’re pushing businesses to move to automation and we’re pushing businesses to reduce their labor force,” Strommen said. “And that is a bad, bad direction for us to be going in.”

Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad introduced a series of unsuccessful procedural motions to extend debate, saying LB 258 does not respect the will of nearly 60% of Nebraska voters who chose to have the state’s minimum wage tied to cost-of-living increases.

“If inflation is increasing — and the price of eggs, or the price of gas or the price of housing is going up — and we artificially restrain minimum wage earnings from keeping pace with that, it drives working families deeper into poverty,” Conrad said.

As amended during the first round of debate, the bill also would establish a youth minimum wage of $13.50 an hour for employees ages 14-15 and adjust the 90-day training wage for new employees under age 20 to $13.50 an hour through Dec. 31, 2026. The training wage then would increase by 1.5% annually.

The youth minimum wage, which would not apply to emancipated youth, also would increase by 1.5% every fifth year beginning Jan. 1, 2030.

After four hours of select file debate, Raybould offered a motion to invoke cloture, which ends debate and forces a vote on the bill and any underlying amendments.

The motion was adopted on a vote of 33-16. Thirty-three votes were needed. Lawmakers then advanced LB 258 to the final round of debate on a 33-16 vote.

The Unicameral Update is the official news service of the Nebraska Legislature.

© 2025 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved!