Labor & Employment

This bill requires Nebraska state employers to provide paid maternity leave to employees who give birth or adopt a child. Full-time state employees would receive six weeks of paid leave, while part-time employees would receive leave proportional to their regular work schedule. The leave must be taken within six months of the child's birth or adoption, and employees must return to their original position or an equivalent role after leave. The bill also prohibits retaliation against employees who use this leave and ensures continued benefits during the leave period.

LB 463 requires Nebraska school districts to develop cardiac emergency response plans for sudden cardiac arrests during school activities. These plans must include specific elements like a response team, automated defibrillator placement, staff training (including CPR and AED use), annual drills, and coordination with emergency services, based on American Heart Association standards. The bill directs the State Department of Education to provide grants from the Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund to cover costs for these plans. It amends school safety laws to integrate cardiac response planning into existing safety reporting requirements, affecting all public school districts in Nebraska. The funding mechanism ensures grants are available without diverting other Medicaid resources.

LB 397 repeals Nebraska's requirements for employers to establish workplace safety committees and implement safety programs (sections 48-443 to 48-445). It also terminates a related fund and removes related eligibility criteria from workers' compensation rules. Employers previously required to maintain safety committees or comply with safety program standards will no longer face these mandates. The bill eliminates these specific provisions without creating new requirements or changing other workers' compensation rules.

LB 261 is Nebraska's state budget bill for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, allocating funds for government operations, education, capital projects, and federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. It reappropriates unspent balances from previous years and specifies how federal recovery funds must be used, including restrictions on salary spending. The bill requires agencies to submit detailed budget reports and limits total salary/wage expenditures unless federal funds cover the excess. This directly affects all state agencies, universities, and programs receiving state or federal funds during the 2025-2027 budget period.

This bill sets funding levels for Nebraska state agencies during fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. It allocates specific sums for state government operations, handles unspent balances from prior years, and establishes a cap on state employee salaries and per diem payments. The bill requires agencies to operate within these budget constraints, including limits on total compensation for permanent and temporary staff. It directly affects all state agencies receiving operating funds and governs how they manage their budgets.

LB 229 amends Nebraska's Employment Security Law to exclude "marketplace network contractors" (such as delivery drivers or ride-share workers for platforms like Uber) from the law's definition of "employment." This means these workers would no longer qualify for unemployment benefits under Nebraska's system. The bill achieves this by adding a specific exclusion to the law's definition of "employment," clarifying that services performed for marketplace network platforms are not covered. The change directly affects independent contractors working through digital platforms, not the platforms themselves or traditional employees.