No Nebraskan should have to choose between their paycheck and their health or the health of their family. That’s why we joined a statewide coalition to collect signatures and successfully bring paid sick leave to the November 2024 ballot. After years of legislative inaction, nearly 75% of voters approved the measure, making it clear: Nebraskans believe all workers should be able to earn and use paid sick leave. 

Paid sick leave laws typically allow workers to take short-term time off for illness (such as the flu or a cold), attend medical appointments, seek preventive care, or care for a sick child or aging parent. It’s a commonsense policy that reflects our Nebraska values and advances gender equity. Women in service-sector jobs are 11 percentage points less likely than men to have access to paid sick leave. Additionally, 43% of working mothers—which includes 54% Latina and 42% Black mothers—do not have access to paid sick leave, which is particularly concerning given that women shoulder a disproportionate share of caregiving duties throughout the United States. 

Initiative 436, approved by more than 75% of Nebraska voters in November 2024, requires all businesses to offer paid sick leave, allowing workers to earn one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. It is set to go into effect on October 1, 2025.

Unfortunately, despite overwhelming voter support, lawmakers quickly moved to weaken the new law. With the passage of LB 415, introduced by Senator Beau Ballard, and the amendment to include LB 698, introduced by Senator Paul Strommen, the Legislature carved out broad exemptions before the law even goes into effect—excluding more than 140,000 workers, including those at businesses with 10 or fewer employees, seasonal agricultural workers, and youth under age 16. 

Even more concerning, these changes also removed protections for workers who face retaliation for using the sick leave they’ve earned. 

We will continue to advocate for policies that honor the will of the people and ensure every worker—regardless of job or employer size—has access to basic protections that safeguard their health, their families and their economic stability. 

Everyone, no matter their gender, should be paid the same for doing the same work. On average, Nebraska women earn 73 percent of what men earn, with an even bigger wage gap for women of color and LGBTQ individuals. In Nebraska, equal pay for all could reduce the poverty of single primary caregivers by nearly 68 percent.

A typical working woman loses $406,000 over her lifetime due to the wage gap, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. By the time a college-educated working woman turns 59, she will have lost almost $800,000. In fact, the gender wage gap is widest for women with higher levels of educational attainment. For example, a woman with a graduate degree earns less than a man with a bachelor’s degree.

The first step in closing the pay gap is through pay transparency. Passed into law in 2019 and supported by the Women’s Fund, LB 217 prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who disclose and discuss their compensation. Knowledge is power.

See our fact sheet on LB 217!

In Nebraska—where the majority of parents work outside the home—child care is the engine that drives our economy. When parents don’t have access to quality, affordable child care, they are often forced to take time off, scale back to part time or drop out of the workforce altogether. A robust and high quality child care system will benefit our families, our workforce and our economy.

Our elected officials continue to recognize that access to affordable child care is a critical issue for working families in Nebraska, but have failed to pass substantive legislation to address the need and demands. We continue to advocate for policies like expanded access to child care assistance, paid leave and support for child care providers, but to fully support working parents, employers must also rise to meet demands.

In 2021, LB 485 increased access to affordable child care for low-income working families. This law increases access to affordable child care through the child care assistance or subsidy program (Title XX) by increasing initial eligibility from 130% federal poverty level (FPL) to 185% FPL and exit eligibility from 185% FPL to 200% FPL through the end of September 2023. And in 2023, LB 35 extended this child care subsidy eligibility through October 2026. At a time when Nebraska needs any and all workers, we should be doing everything we can to remove the very real barriers that child care access poses for workers to stay in the workforce and advance in their careers.

If you are having difficulty accessing affordable child care, you can access additional resources or apply for child care assistance through AccessNebraska. 

During the 2021 session, State Senator Terrell McKinney re-introduced legislation to support natural hair nondiscrimination. LB 451 passed with a vote of 40-4 and will end natural hair discrimination in the workplace by clarifying language to expand protections for natural hair texture and protective hairstyles, including braids, locs and twists. We applaud the advocacy efforts of Black women, specifically the team at I Be Black Girl, to realize racial and gender equity in the workplace.

During the pandemic, issues impacting women and girls were compounded—including food insecurity. The need for resources in our community reached an all-time high, highlighting long-standing gaps in access to consistent and reliable food assistance. 

In response, we have worked across multiple legislative sessions to strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and reduce the “cliff effect”—a barrier that penalizes families for accepting small wage increases by disqualifying them from assistance. 

During the 2021 Legislative Session, we supported LB 108, which became law despite a gubernatorial veto. This bill increased income eligibility for SNAP, allowing more working families to put food on the table without losing crucial support. In 2023, we helped ensure this increased access remained in place through the passage of LB 84. 

And in 2025, LB 192, introduced by Senator Dan Quick and prioritized by Senator John Cavanaugh, passed with 41 votes. This legislation eliminates the sunset date on expanded SNAP eligibility, making the change permanent and ensuring that 10,000 Nebraskans and their families continue to receive the food assistance they need. 

Every household has a right to reliable access to food. These legislative wins represent critical investments in our state’s families and in the health and well-being of our communities. 

If you need food assistance, you can apply for SNAP through AccessNebraska. 

All families need access to credit. But with annual percentage rates of more than 400%, payday loans leave families worse off. That’s why we advocated for payday lending reform—to ensure that loans are reasonable and fair for consumers.

We took a step forward on payday lending during the 2018 legislative session with the passing of LB 194. Then, we worked to stop predatory payday lending through a ballot initiative, MEASURE 428, during the 2020 General Election. Measure 428 passed and will ensure payday lenders cannot charge more than 36%.

Safe and affordable housing is a fundamental human right that is inextricably tied to a person’s economic outcomes, educational opportunities, and mental and physical health. Economic security is critical to securing safe and accessible housing. For women, especially women of color, gender and racial wage gaps make it more difficult to find and maintain housing without spending most of their income on housing expenses. Additionally, single-parent households, the majority of which are led by women, must make the earnings of a single person stretch to account for other expenses in addition to housing, placing a potential strain on finances. Low-income women are particularly vulnerable to housing instability because of these factors.

Introduced in 2023 and passed in 2024, LB 1046 and LB 530 increases housing stability for public housing tenants. Housing justice is directly connected to gender equity and won’t be solved by these bills alone so you can bet we’ll be in this space to ensure everyone can secure safe and stable housing that is affordable. Read our fact sheet on the impact of housing justice on gender equity and its intersecting connections to our work.