Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature managed to pass a bill that significantly weakens a voter-backed measure requiring employers to offer paid sick leave. And they did it with the help of a Democrat.
Backers of the bill overcame a filibuster on Wednesday with the exact number of votes needed — 33 — thanks to the support of a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln.
Raybould, whose family owns several grocery store chains in the state, was also the main sponsor of another bill that sought to restrict a voter-backed minimum wage law. That bill suffered an unexpected defeat earlier this session when a freshman lawmaker failed to show up for a vote on it. Raybould’s attempt to attach it to the paid sick leave measure on Wednesday also failed.
By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, Nebraska voters in November approved a ballot measure that requires all Nebraska employers to provide at least some paid sick leave to their employees.
The ballot language, which had been set to take effect Oct. 1, required businesses to provide workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to seven days at businesses with more than 20 employees. Employees at smaller businesses could accrue up to five days’ worth of paid sick leave a year. The leave could be used for the employees themselves or to tend to a family member.
But the bill passed Wednesday and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen carves out exceptions. It allows businesses to withhold paid sick leave from 14- and 15-year-olds, as well as from temporary and seasonal agricultural workers. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees would not need to provide paid sick leave at all.
More concerning, opponents say, is a provision that strips from the new law the ability of workers to sue employers who retaliate against them for using paid sick leave. The removal of that enforcement language would “essentially gut” the paid leave measure, said Sen. John Cavanaugh, who opposed the bill. Cavanaugh reiterated that paid sick leave received nearly 75% approval — more support than most lawmakers got at the polls.
“The voters wanted this more than they wanted you here,” he said, addressing fellow lawmakers. “This is about respect for the will of the voters.”
Nebraska joins other states leading efforts to counter voter-approved policies on everything from paid sick leave to abortion. Some states are seeking to limit the voter initiative process itself, leading to pushback from voters.
Supporters of the Nebraska paid sick leave rollback say they’re seeking to protect both workers and businesses. Raybould has said throughout debate this session that teens under 16 will find themselves unable to get an after-school or summer job without changes to both minimum wage and paid sick leave measures. She says no one will hire teens with limited experience and federal child labor restrictions at $15 per hour — the minimum wage set to take effect Jan. 1.
“We have to find that balance between business and labor,” Raybould said during debate Wednesday. “We have to be competitive, and we have to be flexible.”
Others went further, with Republican Sen. Mike Jacobson saying that government telling businesses what wages and benefits they must offer employees “threatens democracy.” If employees don’t like the terms of their employment, he said, it’s incumbent on them to find a different job.
Sen. Robert Hallstrom is another Republican who supported restrictions on both the minimum wage and paid sick leave. He said the Legislature has the right to make changes to voter-backed measures, asking if young or seasonal workers who would be affected by those changes would “rather have a $10-an-hour job or no job?”
The Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans coalition, which was behind the effort to get paid sick leave on the Nebraska ballot last year, said the bill passed Wednesday would remove paid sick leave protections for 140,000 workers in the state.
“Despite thousands of Nebraskans demanding that our Legislature honor the clear will of voters, 33 senators ignored those calls yet again today,” the coalition said in a statement. “It will prevent thousands of Nebraskans from being able to access the good life.”