Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB393                                                                                          LB393
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                                  LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                             ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                        FIRST SESSION
                         LEGISLATIVE BILL 393
        Introduced by Erdman, 47.
        Read first time January 12, 2023
        Committee: Business and Labor
    A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to agriculture; to amend sections 48-301,
        48-302.03, and 48-302.04, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and
        section 81-2,157, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to
        define and redefine terms;        to provide reporting requirements
        relating to planting seed corn; to provide a duty for the Director
        of Agriculture;     to change and provide work conditions and
        requirements relating to   detasseling or    roguing;     to provide
        penalties; to harmonize provisions; to repeal the original sections;
        and to   outright repeal sections        81-2,155   and     81-2,156,   Revised
        Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022.
    Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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           Section 1. Section 48-301, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
           48-301 For purposes of sections 48-302 to 48-313:
          (1) Employment means (a) service for wages or (b) being under a
    contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied. Employment, other
    than detasseling or roguing, does not include any employment for which
    the employer is not liable for payment of the combined tax or payment in
    lieu of    contributions under section   48-648,    48-649   to   48-649.04,   or
    48-660.01; and
           (2)   Detasseling means the removal of   weeds,   off-type and rogue
    plants, and corn tassels in hand pollinating and in any other engagement
    in hand labor in the production of seed corn; and .
           (3) Roguing means the removal of inferior or defective plants or
    seedlings from a crop in an agricultural field by hand labor.
           Sec. 2. Section 48-302.03, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
           48-302.03 (1) A child under the age of twelve shall not be employed
    in detasseling or roguing.
           (2) A child who is at least twelve years but less than sixteen years
    of age may be employed in detasseling or roguing if:
           (a) The employment is outside of school hours during the month of
    June, July, or August;
           (b) The employer of such child obtains the written consent of a
    parent of the child or a person standing in loco parentis to the child
    for the child to be so employed;
           (c) The child is domiciled within seventy-five miles of the location
    where the labor is to be performed; and
           (d) The child does not work (i) more than forty-eight hours in any
    one week, (ii) nor more than nine hours in any one day, and (iii) nor
    before the hour of 6 a.m. or in the morning, nor after the hour of 8 p.m.
    in the evening if the child is under the age of fourteen years of age, or
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   nor after the hour of 10 p.m. in the evening if the child is between the
    ages of fourteen and sixteen years of age. Transportation time shall not
    be counted under this subdivision nor shall time spent during work breaks
    or waiting time spent during storm events if no work is required during
    those periods.
       (3) A child who is at least sixteen years of age but under nineteen
   years of age may be employed in detasseling or roguing if such child does
    not work (a) more than ten hours in any one day, (b) more than sixty
    hours in any one week, and (c) before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m.
       (4) Transportation time, time spent during work breaks, and waiting
    time spent during storm events shall not be counted for purposes of
    computing total work hours under subdivision (2)(d) or subsection (3) of
    this section if no work is required during such time periods.
       (5) (3) Sections 48-302 and 48-310 do not apply to employment of a
   child in detasseling or roguing if the requirements of subsection (2) of
   this section are met.
        (6) (4) This section does not apply to a parent or a person standing
    in loco parentis who employs and directly supervises his or her own child
   or a child in his or her custody in a business owned and operated by such
   parent or person standing in loco parentis.
        Sec. 3. Section 48-302.04, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
    amended to read:
        48-302.04 (1) An employer who employs a child under sixteen years of
    age in detasseling or roguing shall provide at least two supervisors who
    are eighteen years of age or older at each location where detasseling or
   roguing is being performed by a child under sixteen years of age. The
   supervisors shall be capable of assisting with issues of health, safety,
   and wages, including bonuses and incentive payments.
        (2) An employer who employs a child under sixteen years of age in
    detasseling or roguing shall provide the parents of such child with an
   information sheet defining the terms of employment, including, but not
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    limited to, the availability of water and sanitary facilities on the job
    and wage, bonus, and incentive payment information. The information sheet
    shall set forth the name, address, and telephone number of the Division
    of Safety and Labor Standards of the Department of Labor for purposes of
    filing complaints concerning nonpayment of wages.
        Sec. 4.   (1) No person who plants seed corn in this state intended
    for sale shall require any worker employed in detasseling or roguing to
   work (a) more than ten hours in any one day, (b) more than sixty hours in
   any one week, or (c) before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m.
        (2) Transportation time, time spent during work breaks, and waiting
    time spent during storm events shall not be counted for purposes of
    computing total work hours under this section if no work is required
    during such time periods.
        (3) A violation of this section is a Class IV misdemeanor.
        (4) For purposes of this section, detasseling and roguing have the
    same meaning as in section 48-301.
        Sec. 5.   For purposes of sections 6 and 7 of this act, detasseling
    and roguing have the same meaning as in section 48-301.
        Sec. 6.   (1) Any seed company which plants seed corn in this state
    intended for sale shall file a report by February 1 of each calendar year
    with the Director of Agriculture reporting the number of acres to be
    planted such calendar year that will require detasseling or roguing. The
    report shall be made on a form prescribed by the director.
        (2) The Director of Agriculture shall prepare a report disclosing
    the number of acres reported pursuant to subsection (1) of this section
    and post such report on the Department of Agriculture's website by March
    1 of each corresponding calendar year.
        (3) Any person who fails to report as required by subsection (1) of
    this section shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor.
        Sec. 7. Section 81-2,157, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
    2022, is amended to read:
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          81-2,157 (1) It shall be unlawful for any person or such person's
   agent or representative to sell, offer or expose for sale, or falsely
   mark or tag, within the State of Nebraska, any seed corn as hybrid unless
   it is: Any person who violates any of the provisions of sections 81-2,155
   and 81-2,156 shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor.
         (a) Seed of the first generation of a cross involving two, three, or
   four different inbred lines of corn or their combinations; and
          (b) The result of a cross produced by cross fertilization performed
    by a method of proper isolation in time or distance and controlled either
   by hand,   by detasseling at    the proper times,   or by    utilizing male
   sterility systems.
         (2) A violation of this section is a Class III misdemeanor.
          (3)    (2)    In addition to    the criminal penalty provided under
    subsection (2) (1) of this section, a restraining order or a temporary,
    permanent, or mandatory injunction may be imposed against any person to
   restrain the commission or continuance of any act in violation of this
   section any of the provisions of sections 81-2,155 and 81-2,156. The
    district court of the county where such act is occurring or about to
    occur shall have jurisdiction to grant such relief upon good cause shown.
    Relief may be granted notwithstanding the existence of any other remedy
    at law and shall be granted without bond.
         (4) (3) Whenever the Director of Agriculture has a reasonable belief
    that the commission or continuance of any act is in violation of this
    section sections 81-2,155 and 81-2,156, the director shall report such
    belief to the Attorney General or the county attorney of the county in
    which such act is   occurring or     about to    occur.   Upon satisfactory
   information provided by   the director,      the Attorney General or   the
   appropriate county attorney may cause appropriate proceedings pursuant to
   this section to be initiated without delay.
          Sec. 8.      Original sections 48-301, 48-302.03, and 48-302.04, Reissue
   Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 81-2,157, Revised Statutes
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   Cumulative Supplement, 2022, are repealed.
       Sec. 9.    The following sections are outright repealed: Sections
   81-2,155 and 81-2,156, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 48-301, 48-302.03, 48-302.04