LINCOLN- Nebraska lawmakers expected to spend two hours Wednesday on a nearly inevitable proposal to slow voter-approved annual increases in the state’s minimum wage to a fixed rate, rather than the faster inflation-based bumps passed in 2022. Lincoln State Sen. Jane Raybould’s proposal faced a promised filibuster. Yet even her opponents knew the measure had the votes to be sent to the governor’s desk. Wednesday was set to be the latest example in a trend of the officially nonpartisan but GOP-dominated Legislature pushing back against a handful of ballot measures passed by Nebraska voters on paid sick leave, minimum wage, school vouchers, and medical marijuana.

But instead of grinding things to a halt, State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln began withdrawing her delay-focused motions to force an unexpectedly quicker vote on the proposal. Conrad asked for a roll call in reverse order, as one of the 33 lawmakers needed to tweak voter-approved proposals that changed state law was absent. Under the Legislature’s rules, the reverse order vote caused the missing lawmaker, State Sen. Tony Sorrentino of the Elkhorn area, to be considered “excused not voting” as his name is lower than on the roll, and votes are typically done in alphabetical order. This caused the bill to fail 31-17.

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