Nebraska lawmakers voted Thursday to reduce the minimum wage for workers under 20 to $13.50 and cap future wage increases, rolling back parts of a voter-approved ballot initiative that was set to raise the minimum wage to $15 this year.
In 2022, Nebraskans approved a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 and tie future increases to inflation. The legislative changes would also cap future wage increases at a flat 1.75 percent per year starting in 2027.
Ken Smith, director of the Economic Justice Program at Nebraska Appleseed, said the group argues Nebraska lawmakers are rolling back the will of the voters.
"There is a trend whereby in Nebraska, when voters exercise their constitutional right to place these issues on the ballot, the legislature then steps in and unravels what they voted for under the guise of either fixing it or with the justification that the voters didn't know what they were doing," Smith said.
The initial minimum wage increase has created challenges for some small business owners. Dana Peffer, owner of Sgt Peffer's, said the wage increase has been tough on her business.
"I had to up prices, and I don't want to have to do that, but I obviously have to do that, otherwise I cannot stay open. Small businesses, it is so hard already," Peffer said.
However, Peffer doesn't support the legislature's decision to lower wages for younger employees.
"I don't feel like it's fair for them to use an age to deem how much they get paid because a lot of times my younger employees actually work harder than my older employees," Peffer said.
Smith warned that the wage cap cannot keep up with Nebraska's growing cost of living.
"Nebraska's wages will start to fall behind our cost of living. People will be working really hard and still unable to make ends meet," Smith said.
For workers aged 14 and 15, wages will only increase once every five years under the new legislation. The changes would go into effect in July.
The bill now goes to Governor Jim Pillen's desk for signature.
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