Nebraska teens will earn $1.50 less per hour than adults starting this July

Governor signs new teen wage law

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a law on Feb. 9 that creates a lower minimum wage for teenage workers.

LB 258 sets a new youth wage and a training wage, both at $13.50 an hour, which is $1.50 less than the adult minimum of $15.

The law also caps future minimum wage increases at 1.75% a year, replacing a formula tied to inflation that voters approved in 2022.

The changes take effect July 17.

Voters raised the wage in 2022

Back in November 2022, Nebraska voters passed Initiative 433 with about 59% support. The measure bumped the state minimum wage up in steps, from $9 to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026.

After that, annual raises would follow inflation using a regional consumer price index. Nebraska was one of more than 20 states where voters have raised the minimum wage through ballot measures since 1996.

That voter-approved formula is what the new law replaces.

Teens under 16 earn $1.50 less

Under the new law, employers can pay workers who are 14 or 15 years old just $13.50 an hour. That rate sticks as long as the worker is under 16, with no time limit.

One exception: emancipated minors still get the full adult wage. Starting Jan. 1, 2030, the youth wage will go up by 1.5% every five years.

That’s a slow climb compared to what the original voter-approved formula would have delivered.

New hires aged 16-19 start lower too

The law also creates a training wage of $13.50 an hour for new workers between 16 and 19. It lasts for the first 90 days on the job.

If the worker enters a state-approved training program, the employer can extend that lower rate for another 90 days.

Seasonal workers, migrant workers, and emancipated minors are all excluded from the training wage. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the training rate goes up by 1.5% each year.

Guardrails limit how employers use it

Nebraska already had rules to prevent employers from gaming lower wage tiers, and LB 258 keeps those protections in place.

Employers cannot cut other workers’ hours to swap in training-wage employees. They also cannot lay people off and fill those jobs with cheaper trainees.

On top of that, no more than a quarter of an employer’s total paid hours can go to workers earning the training wage.

These safeguards apply to every business in the state.

Annual raises now capped at 1.75%

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the adult minimum wage will climb by a flat 1.75% each year. That replaces the inflation-based formula voters approved in 2022.

Under the new math, the 2027 wage will land at roughly $15.25 an hour. The old formula could have pushed that number higher or lower depending on actual inflation.

The Nebraska Department of Labor must calculate and publish each new rate by Oct. 15 of the year before it kicks in.

Supporters say businesses need predictability

Sen. Jane Raybould, a Lincoln Democrat who introduced the bill, said the changes balance the needs of businesses and workers.

Supporters argued that a $15 minimum wage makes it tough for employers to hire teenagers with little experience.

Sen. Tony Sorrentino pointed out that Nebraska’s youth wage is still higher than nearly every other state’s.

Backers also said a fixed 1.75% cap gives businesses a number they can plan around. The bill passed 33-16, with the Republican majority in favor.

Opponents say lawmakers ignored the voters

Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said the Legislature’s first act of 2026 was to “undermine the will of the people and lower wages.”

Sen. Megan Hunt argued that groceries, rent, and gas cost the same whether a worker is 17 or 37. Democrats and nonpartisan members voted unanimously against the bill.

Opponents pointed to the nearly 60% of voters who backed the original wage increases in 2022. Critics called the youth and training wages an exploitation of young workers.

The bill barely cleared its supermajority hurdle

Nebraska’s constitution says lawmakers need a two-thirds vote, 33 out of 49 senators, to change any voter-approved law. LB 258 passed with exactly 33 votes, the bare minimum.

It actually failed in May 2025 with only 31 votes when a supporter missed the roll call. Lawmakers revived it in the 2026 session, and it cleared its final hurdle on Feb. 5.

This marks the second straight year the Legislature has changed a voter-approved law.

What workers and employers should know

The adult minimum wage stays at $15 through 2026. Nothing changes there.

The youth and training wage provisions kick in on July 17. Tipped employees can still earn $2.13 an hour as long as tips bring their total to at least the minimum wage.

Employers who hire teens will need to track each worker’s age, emancipation status, and how long they have been on the training wage.

Some workers will earn less per hour than they would have under the original law.

A ballot campaign wants to protect future votes

A group called Respect Nebraska Voters is gathering signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot.

The amendment would raise the threshold to change voter-approved laws from two-thirds to four-fifths, meaning 40 out of 49 senators.

Organizers point to changes to both the minimum wage and a paid sick leave law as reasons for the effort. The coalition includes the Women’s Fund of Omaha, Nebraska Appleseed, and the Heartland Workers Center.

They need signatures from about 10% of registered voters by July.

Other states face the same tension

Since 2010, at least three state legislatures have changed voter-approved minimum wage measures. Arizona amended a 2006 initiative in 2013, and Maine amended a 2016 initiative in 2017.

Only two states, Arizona and California, require voter approval before lawmakers can touch ballot measures. In 11 states, there are no limits at all on what the legislature can change.

Nebraska now sits at the center of that national debate over how much power lawmakers should have over voter-approved laws.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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