By Fred Knapp , Producer Nebraska Public Media
Nebraska, NE-Nebraska’s minimum wage is going up once again on New Year’s Day.
Advocates say the increase will help low-income workers, while critics say it could raise prices for consumers.
Right now, the minimum wage in Nebraska is $12 an hour. On Jan. 1, it will increase to $13.50.
Nebraska voters approved a series of $1.50 an hour increases in 2022. The wage will increase again, to $15 an hour in 2026. After that it will increase with inflation.
Ken Smith of Nebraska Appleseed, which supported the increase, said the increase will help more than just people who earn the minimum wage. Smith says it will have a “ripple effect” by raising wages for other employees whose employers want to attract and keep them by offering above-minimum wages.
Ansley Fellers of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, which opposed the increase, said grocers indicate they’ve been coping with the increases until now. But when she talked to them this summer, they were concerned about the next step.
“They all said ‘We cut back some hours. We managed to manage around the increase so far.’ But they all seem to agree that the jump to $13.50 in January and then the jump to $15 an hour was sort of a threshold they couldn’t absorb anymore,” Fellers said. “So they’re very concerned they’re going to have to pass along the increases, or maybe cut back employees, continue to cut back hours of operation, that sort of thing.”
The increase doesn’t affect tipped workers. Their minimum wage is still $2.13 an hour, although employers are supposed to make sure the total, including tips, equals or exceeds the state minimum wage.
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