Adopt the Nebraska Registered Apprenticeship Act, change provisions relating to funds, child labor, the Business Innovation Act, the Contractor Registration Act, the Employee Classification Act, the Employment Security Law, and the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, and transfer administration of student internships to the Department of Labor
LB847 is a broad labor and workforce development bill that creates the Nebraska Registered Apprenticeship Act and reorganizes several existing labor-related programs and statutes. It establishes the Nebraska Office of Registered Apprenticeship within the Department of Labor, defines apprenticeship-related terms, sets standards for registered and quality pre-apprenticeship programs, and creates a Nebraska Apprenticeship Council to advise the department and promote apprenticeship outreach. The bill also directs the department to develop a state apprenticeship completion credential, approve and oversee apprenticeship registrations, establish reciprocity procedures, and handle disputes and cancellations.
The bill also transfers administration of student internship grants from the Department of Economic Development to the Department of Labor and creates a new Intern Nebraska Cash Fund to support those grants. It revises the Business Innovation Act, including funding and grant criteria for innovation, prototype development, commercialization, bioscience, microenterprise, and high-growth business support. In addition, it changes provisions in the Employment Security Law, the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act, the Contractor Registration Act, the Employee Classification Act, and child labor statutes, while also renaming and repurposing certain funds tied to contractor and professional employer registration and workforce programs.
LB847 substantially amends Nebraska labor and workforce statutes by creating a new apprenticeship regulatory framework, shifting internship administration to the labor agency, and revising enforcement, fee, and fund provisions across multiple labor-related programs. It changes child labor and employment certificate provisions, updates unemployment insurance and combined tax administration, adds an annual administrative support fee for certain employers, and modifies wage-payment enforcement and labor commissioner authority. The bill also creates or renames several cash funds and redirects revenue to support apprenticeship, workforce development, job training, internship, and business innovation activities, affecting employers, apprentices, students, contractors, professional employer organizations, and businesses seeking state assistance.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and advanced with little visible opposition during the legislative process. It received unanimous or near-unanimous committee and floor votes on multiple amendments and advanced stages, and it ultimately passed final reading 44-4-1. That voting pattern suggests general agreement with the bill’s workforce development and apprenticeship goals, as well as with the administrative consolidation of related programs.
The main points of contention likely centered on the bill’s many structural changes rather than on the concept of apprenticeship itself. Potentially sensitive issues include the transfer of internship administration from Economic Development to Labor, the creation and use of new cash funds, the annual administrative support fee for certain employers, expanded commissioner enforcement powers, and changes to contractor registration and employee classification reporting. The bill also eliminates some reporting and hotline requirements under the Employee Classification Act and revises child labor and unemployment tax provisions, which could draw concern from employers, regulated industries, and those focused on administrative burden or agency authority, though the recorded votes show limited overt resistance.