Gov. Jim Pillen (R) signed Legislative Bill 258 (LB 258) on Feb. 10, enacting changes to a 2022 minimum wage initiative passed earlier in the month by the state legislature. The bill is the second time the state legislature has amended a ballot initiative in two years.
Initiative 433 was approved by Nebraska voters in 2022 by a margin of 59% to 41%. It was designed to incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage from $9 to $15 by 2026, and to adjust it annually thereafter to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Midwest Region. LB 258 removed the CPI increase and replaced it with an annual increase of 1.75%. The bill also authorized employers to pay employees between the ages of 14 and 16 a minimum wage of $13.50, adjusted annually by 1.5%.
In Nebraska, the state legislature cannot alter or repeal an initiated state statute without a two-thirds supermajority vote. This amounts to 33 votes. LB 258 passed in the state legislature by a vote of 33-16 along party lines, with the Republican majority supporting the bill and the two nonpartisan members joining the Democratic opposition. The law goes into effect in July, three months after the session adjourns.
State Sen. Jared Storm (R-23) said, “A minimum wage increase is essentially a tax on small businesses.” Speaking to the separate teen wage, State Sen. Stanley Clouse (R-37) said, “I've talked to everyday Nebraska small-business owners in my community, and I've talked to a lot of them, and they want a training wage, and it costs kids jobs. This is almost a quote: ‘I am not going to pay a high school kid minimum wage to come in, and I have to tell them three times to empty out the trash.’”
State Sen. Megan Hunt (Nonpartisan-8), who voted against the bill, said, “Families are asking us, how are they going to keep up with prices? How are they going to keep up with the cost of living?” Hunt said. “And we’re answering by cutting their paychecks.”
During the 2025 legislative session, Nebraska legislators also amended a 2024 initiative that provided for paid sick leave. The alteration excluded individual owner-operators, independent contractors, individuals working for fewer than 80 hours in one calendar year, agricultural seasonal workers, workers under the age of 16, and employees subject to the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act from the eligible list of employees for paid sick leave. The bill passed by a vote of 33-16.
Prior to 2010, the last instance of legislative alteration in Nebraska was the repeal of a 2004 initiative that enacted a gambling tax. The initiative was approved by a margin of 51% to 49%. It was repealed in 2007.
There are 21 states with a process for initiated state statutes. Eleven states have no restrictions on legislative alteration, two states—Arizona and California—require voter approval of substantive alteration, and the remaining eight states have either time restrictions, supermajority vote requirements, or a combination of the two.
Since 2010, 282 initiated state statutes, and five initiated ordinances in D.C. have been approved by voters. Of these total initiatives from 2010, 33 were legislatively altered. The states with the most total legislative alterations are Oregon and Maine, with four each. Among initiatives approved from 2010 through 2024, marijuana was the topic that drew the most legislative alterations, with eight initiatives.
Additional reading: