Raise the Wage Nebraska today submitted to the Nebraska Secretary of State petitions containing more than 160,000 signatures to place a gradual increase in the state’s minimum wage on the November ballot.
Increasing the minimum wage will benefit nearly 150,000 working Nebraskans – 75% of all workers who will benefit are over 20 years old and nearly one-quarter are over 40. Additionally, 60,000 are working full-time.
Nancy Williams is President and CEO of No More Empty Pots and helped sponsor the initiative. She says, “This initiative will improve the lives of tens of thousands of Nebraska families. 1 in 5 workers who will benefit is a parent supporting children and trying to make ends meet. The cost of groceries, housing and basics have gone up for years, and inflation is now at record highs, but the minimum wage just hasn’t kept up. No one working full-time should struggle to make ends meet.”
According to research from the Economic Policy Institute, 1 in 5 women workers in Nebraska will see their wages increase because of the initiative and 43% of Nebraska workers who will benefit have at least some college or an Associate’s degree. If the initiative passes, 25% of Black workers and 30% of Latino workers in Nebraska will see their wages go up.
This initiative will gradually and responsibly increase the minimum wage from the current $9 an hour to $10.50 in January of 2023. It then increases the wage gradually each year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2026.