A ballot initiative in Nebraska to require employers to provide earned paid sick leave to employees was certified for the ballot by the secretary of state on Aug. 13. Businesses with 20 or more employees would be required to provide seven days of paid sick leave annually, and businesses with fewer than 20 employees would be required to provide five. Employees would earn one hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked.
Similar initiatives that would provide earned paid sick leave, as well as set the state minimum wage to $15, will also appear on the ballot in Alaska and Missouri.
The Nebraska initiative is sponsored by Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans. The campaign submitted over 138,000 signatures, of which 97,557 were determined to be valid. The required number of signatures was 86,499 (7% of registered voters as of the filing deadline). Because of the unique signature requirement based on registered voters, Nebraska is also the only state where petition sponsors cannot know the exact number of signatures required until they are submitted. Nebraska law also features a distribution requirement mandating that petitions contain signatures from 5% of the registered voters in each of two-fifths (38) of Nebraska’s 93 counties. The initiative petition also met the distribution requirement.
The campaign is endorsed by the ACLU of Nebraska, Nebraska Appleseed Action Fund, Nebraska Civic Engagement Table, and Nebraska State AFL-CIO.
The paid sick leave initiative is the first initiative certified this cycle. Signatures are still being verified for the following petitions:
- A referendum to repeal Legislative Bill 1402, which authorizes the state treasurer to administer an education scholarship program with a $10 million budget
- A law to legalize medical marijuana in the state and a second measure to regulate its use
- An amendment to establish a state constitutional right to abortion until fetal viability
- An amendment to prohibit abortions after the first trimester unless necessitated by a medical emergency or the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or incest
The deadline for the Nebraska Secretary of State to certify the ballot is Sept. 13.
Between 2010 and 2022, an average of eight initiatives were filed each election cycle in Nebraska with an average of one certified for the ballot.
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