It’s Day 24 of the Nebraska Legislature’s 2026 session! We’re at the Capitol every day, continuing to fight for justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans. Check out last week’s highlights and this week’s key hearings below:
Last Week’s Highlights
Last week, we testified or submitted comments on several bills and one constitutional amendment:
- ❌ LB809, introduced by Senator Robert Dover, harms Nebraska renters by prohibiting localities from banning housing discrimination on the basis of a tenant’s source of income. This bill would thwart the will of Lincoln voters who passed a source of income ban last May, and it limits other municipalities from being able to enact similar fair housing laws.
- ✅ LB812, introduced by Senator Eliot Bostar, protects Nebraskans’ access to health care by requiring that our state does not implement Medicaid work requirements early. It also prohibits Nebraska from verifying Medicaid expansion eligibility or work requirement compliance more frequently than needed.
- ❌ LB926, introduced by Senator Bob Andersen, harms Nebraska’s most vulnerable families and children by making drastic changes to our state’s Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) program, which provides direct cash assistance to Nebraska’s lowest income families with children. This bill would create additional hardships for families who need our support the most by reducing the amount of time that families can participate in the ADC program, eliminating hardship waivers, making it harder for families to get transitional child care and healthcare benefits, and imposing unnecessarily harsh child support enforcement requirements.
- ✅ LB929, introduced by Senator John Fredrickson, protects Nebraskans’ access to care through Medicaid by prohibiting Nebraska DHHS from requiring Medicaid enrollees to pay copays that aren’t required by federal law, and by requiring Nebraska DHHS to set the new copays for Medicaid expansion enrollees required by HR1 at the lowest amount possible.
Minimum wage restrictions passed
Despite thousands of Nebraskans demanding that our Legislature honor the will of voters, 33 senators chose to undermine our state’s voter-approved minimum wage law by passing ❌LB258 on Final Reading. (Find how your senator voted here.)
This bill creates a subminimum wage for workers under the age of 20 and adds restrictions on the cost of living increases that Nebraskans voted for via Initiative 433. This means that Nebraska wages will once again fail to keep pace with the cost of living. It also means that thousands of young workers, who are already being paid Nebraska’s current minimum wage of $15/hour, will now see their pay decreased to $13.50/hour and will not see a raise in their minimum wage until 2030.
We know that every Nebraskan should receive fair pay, regardless of their age. LB258 directly undermines changes that were overwhelmingly approved by Nebraska voters, and it will prevent thousands of Nebraskans from being able to access the good life.
This Week’s Hearings
Yesterday, we testified or submitted comments on three important bills:
- ✅ LB1089 (Sen. Jana Hughes) protects Nebraska workers by ensuring that employees can pursue legal action if their employer violates their rights under our current paid sick leave law. This bill reinstates the private right of action that the legislature removed from the voter-approved paid sick leave law last year.
- ❌ LB1174, introduced by Senator Kathleen Kauth, would require additional and unnecessary fees to be collected on each transaction sent to a person outside the US (2% on all transactions, 20% on those to China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and Iran). The vast majority of money earned in Nebraska communities is spent locally and supports local economies. The small amount sent to family members in other countries is an important support that should not face high fees.
- ❌ LB1249 (Sen. Tony Sorrentino) harms workers by removing paid sick leave protections from yet another group of working Nebraskans, including employees of private educational institutions and employees who have any amount of an ownership interest in their employer.
There are two more important hearings coming up this week that you can attend in person, stream online, or submit a comment on:
✅ LB723 (Senator Dan Quick) – Provide for implementation of community engagement requirements under the Medical Assistance Act
- Wednesday, February 11 in the afternoon in Room 1510 in front of the Health and Human Services Committee
- This bill protects Nebraskans’ access to health care by requiring that our state does not implement Medicaid work requirements early and requires implementation of measures to reduce unnecessary coverage losses.
- TAKE ACTION: Appleseed SUPPORTS this bill – submit a comment here by Wednesday, February 11 at 8:00 AM CT
✅ LB1032 (Senator Wendy DeBoer) – Provide for recognition and enforcement of tribal customary adoptions in Nebraska state law
- Thursday, February 12 in the afternoon in Room 1525 in front of the Judiciary Committee
- This bill recognizes tribal customary adoptions in Nebraska state law. Tribal customary adoptions allow Native children to be adopted without severing their relationship with their biological family, respecting the traditions, values, and laws of their tribes.
- TAKE ACTION: Appleseed SUPPORTS this bill – submit a comment here by Thursday, February 12 at 8:00 AM CT
Stay Up to Date
You can keep up with all the happenings at the Legislature by following Appleseed online:
- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
- Stop by our blog for opinion pieces, informative updates, and news stories.
- Throughout the session, we’ll let you know how you can take action to get involved and make your voice heard!
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