Nebraska’s minimum wage proposal will appear on midterm ballot

A proposal to raise Nebraska’s minimum wage to $15 per hour will appear on the ballot in November. The increase in the minimum wage will happen in yearly increments of $1.50, starting on Jan. 1, 2023 and ending on Jan. 1, 2026. The incremental system of increase was designed to allow businesses to adjust to the higher wages they will need to pay employees. The minimum wage in Nebraska has been $9 per hour since Jan. 1, 2016. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

Initiative 433, The Minimum Wage Statute, succeeded in gaining the necessary amount of signatures to appear on the November ballot. A petition ballot initiative requires signatures from at least 7% of registered Nebraska voters, which equals 86,776 individuals. The initiative gained around 160,000 signatures before it went through the verification process.

The petition campaign was led by Raise the Wage Nebraska. The organization states on their website that the increase in minimum wage would directly benefit 150,000 Nebraskans. Other issues that they advocate for include closing the gender pay gap, as 60% of Nebraska minimum wage workers are female, as well as closing the racial pay gap because 32% of individuals who will benefit from the minimum wage increase are people of color.

Arguments against increasing the minimum wage include potential job losses and an increase in the prices of goods and services. 

The minimum wage is applicable to any employer with over 4 employees with the exception of small businesses with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less, but does not apply to all workers in Nebraska. The minimum tipped wage is currently $2.13 per hour and several other groups are exempt from being paid minimum wage. These groups include agricultural and farm employees, government employees, volunteer nonprofit workers, immediate-family employees and certain physically or mentally disabled workers. 

The midterm elections are quickly approaching. Voting will take place on Nov. 8, 2022. The outcome of this election will directly impact students at Union who are paid minimum wage on and off campus. While many students are not permanent residents of Nebraska and cannot vote in this election, there is still time for registered voters to request a mail-in ballot and exercise their constitutional right to vote and affect change within their own state. Be sure to check the status of your voting registration and the specific registration deadlines in your individual states. Happy voting!

By: Aubrey Benton