15-05-2025
Nebraska Legislature: Personal devices, lab grown meat bans heading to governor's desk
LINCOLN, Neb. (KCAU) — Wednesday was a big day for Nebraska legislature. The fate of many bills were determined in the third and final round of voting.
State senators voted 48 to 1 on LB 140 with an emergency clause, which means the measure will take effect immediately if the governor chooses to sign the bill.
The bill would ban students from using their personal electronic devices, such as cell phones, on school grounds or while at school instructional functions like a field trip. The measure would allow cell phone use in situations such as cases of emergency or authorized for educational purposes.
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Another bill that passed in the third round of voting was LB 246, the lab grown meat ban. The measure passed on a vote of 38 to 11.
The bill now goes to Governor Pillen's desk, where he will decide whether or not to sign the legislation into law. It bans the production, import, distribution, or sale of any cultivated-protein food in Nebraska if it's made with animal cells. The bill does not prohibit alternative-meat products that are made from plants.
A bill that failed to get pass the final round of voting is LB 258 on a vote of 31 to 17 with one person not voting. The measure would have change provisions in relation to the minimum wage under the wage and hour act. The legislation would have created a youth minimum wage and increase Nebraska's training wage along with setting a cap on the annual increases on minimum wage.
Right now, the minimum wage in Nebraska is $13.50 per hour. Next year, the wage will increase to $15 an hour.
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