Some Nebraska lawmakers seek exemptions in voter-led paid sick leave law, as others protest
After Nebraskans voted to require paid sick leave for eligible employees in November, two dozen state lawmakers are seeking to carve out exceptions, including for more of the state’s small businesses.
Legislative Bill 698, introduced by State Senator Paul Strommen of Sidney and co-sponsored by 24 others, seeks to exempt seasonal agricultural workers and youths under 16 from the mandate and the smallest employers, those with 10 or fewer workers.
During a public hearing Monday before the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee, Strommen said his proposal should not be viewed as an effort to thwart the will of the people.
About 75 percent of Nebraska voters supported Initiative 436, which requires employers with fewer than 20 employees to provide up to five days of sick leave annually, and larger employers, with 20 or more workers to provide up to seven days.
Strommen described the measure as an attempt to “clean up” initiative language and shield workers from “unintended consequences” that would result when small businesses that cannot absorb additional costs downsize or shutter.
“The sum of this bill is to ensure that both employees and employers in our most vulnerable small businesses in the state are not finding themselves in a position where they are going to have to start letting folks go,” said Strommen, who was elected in November.
294 online objections
Rene Carrillo of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 265, countered that if paying sick leave would be that detrimental to a business, the employer “might want to reconsider how you’re running your business.”
Carrillo was among a dozen people, including workers and labor advocates, who testified against LB 698. Seven others, including many representatives of business groups, spoke in favor.
Of those who submitted online comments, nine supported Strommen’s bill, while 294 registered their opposition, said State Senator Kathleen Kauth, committee chair.
Craig Moody, an opponent who was a co-sponsor for the ballot initiative, dismissed the notion that the paid sick leave requirement passed by voters would translate into cutting staff. He noted he is a small employer whose Verdis Group employs 17 workers.
“Paid sick leave is an accelerator to our company’s growth and success, not a detractor,” Moody said.
He agreed that the Legislature’s role is to craft language that makes the law make sense. Of LB 698, he said, “This goes a bit beyond refinements.”
Kauth reflected on Strommen’s testimony that groups outside Nebraska contributed $2.5 million to the ballot initiative effort, while much less came from within the state.
Moody responded that his involvement came at the invitation of a co-coach of his fourth-grade daughter’s basketball team.
“Voters were not bamboozled,” he said, adding that 89 of the state’s 93 counties backed the initiative.
Ken Smith, a Nebraska Appleseed attorney, said mandated paid sick leave had surfaced for years under different legislative bills but never went far. He said the ballot initiative was launched to put the decision before Nebraska voters.
Smith said 18 states have similar laws. He said negative impacts on businesses have not been reported, which is why more than 200 Nebraska businesses, many of them small, supported the sick leave initiative.
“This is a well-worn path,” said Smith. “There are economic and business benefits.”
Advocates of paid sick leave estimated that 250,000 Nebraskans have been working full-time without the option of taking paid sick days. This has left them to face choices that include ignoring their illness or sending sick children to school to avoid consequences such as missing a day’s pay.
Seeking a 'balance'
Ansley Fellers, representing state associations for Nebraska grocers, retailers, and hospitality employers, said her members expressed concern about the mandate. She mentioned Tom Temme, a grocer in Newman Grove, a city with a population of 721.
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Fellers said Temme's family-owned Shell Creek Market employs four full-time and six part-time workers. The store has no official sick leave policy, but it works with employees who need time off.
Temme calls LB 698 a “lifeline.”
Fellers said if businesses close, small town residents will be driving farther for fresh food.
Others that want to scale back paid leave language said business costs could rise and be passed along to the consumer.
State Senator Ben Hansen of Blair, one of the 24 co-sponsors of LB 698, said lawmakers must determine a balance between what voters supporting the paid sick leave initiative want — and what the state can provide.
He called himself a fan of paid sick leave — but not of the government mandating it.
The committee took no immediate action on whether to advance the bill to the full Legislature for debate.
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