LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska high school students will continue to earn the same wages as their adult counterparts after a bill to slash student workers’ minimum wage failed to gain a two-thirds majority in the Legislature.

Senators voted 29-17 on a measure that would have kept the minimum wage for part-time student workers at $8, even after the standard minimum wage increases to $9 in January.

The measure needed 33 votes to pass because it would have modified a citizen-led ballot measure.

Nebraska residents voted to raise the minimum wage last November.

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, says she believes public outcry derailed the bill. Ebke does not know whether she will bring a similar measure next year.