- The legal conflict is about home-rule authority. The core of the dispute is whether Omaha, as a home-rule charter city, has the power to set its own minimum wage rules — or whether state law overrides it. That question is likely to be decided in court before Oct. 1.
- This is part of a broader pattern. The Omaha lawsuit follows a similar one filed against Lincoln earlier this year, suggesting the attorney general is pursuing a statewide legal strategy to challenge city-level wage ordinances that go beyond state law.
- The clock is ticking. Hilgers is expected to seek an injunction to block the ordinance before its Oct. 1 effective date. The city has already hired outside counsel — at taxpayer expense — signaling both sides are preparing for a significant legal fight.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
CENTRAL OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) —Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has filed a lawsuit against the City of Omaha
over its new minimum wage ordinance, which he argues conflicts with state law.
Hilgers contends the ordinance conflicts with a state law that allows employers to pay younger workers $13.50 an hour. He is asking a judge to block the ordinance from taking effect on Oct. 1.
The City of Omaha responded within hours of the lawsuit's announcement. City Attorney Matt Khuse said the city is ready to fight the legal challenge.
"This is a court battle that the city is well prepared for," Khuse said.
Khuse pushed back on characterizations of the ordinance as an overreach.
"I think the law is on the city's side on this. I don't think this is a power grab. I think that is an unfair way to characterize this. This is about the city addressing the needs of it's citizens which we're allowed to do as a home ruled charter city and we are not pre-empted by the state," Khuse said.
Omaha's City Council approved a $15 youth wage and also changed the minimum wage growth rate. Hilgers argues both changes will drive up the cost of goods across Nebraska.
Khuse disputed that the ordinance creates a statewide concern.
"This is not a matter of state wide concern because prices for things vary, prices for things in omaha can be more expensive than in other parts of the state so its incumbent upon the city to take an action to address an issue thats unique to the people of the city of omaha that is not necessarily unique to the entire state," Khuse said.
The lawsuit against Omaha follows a similar one Hilgers filed against the City of Lincoln earlier this year after it passed its own minimum wage ordinance.
Khuse said he anticipates Hilgers will follow the same legal strategy used in the Lincoln case.
"If the attorney general files the same track that he filed in lincoln, regarding their ordinance I suspect the next step would be he would file a motion asking for a court to enjoin us from enforcing this law when it goes into effect on October first," Khuse said.
Khuse also addressed concerns from residents who feel the state legislature has been undoing decisions made by voters.
"We were getting to the point where it was going to be $15 and it was going to go up by the CPIU index for the midwest region well that is when the legislature came in, passed a bill amending the existing law because when the ballot initiative passed that became the statute that but they have amended the statute by taking out that consumer price index modifier to adjust the annual rate and made it a set rate," Khuse said.
The city has hired outside counsel to handle the lawsuit, which will be billed to the city.
