Attorney General Announces Lawsuit Against the City of Lincoln Over Minimum Wage Ordinance
by John Gage
Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced on Thursday that he is filing a lawsuit against the city of Lincoln over their ordinance on the minimum wage. Hilgers said his office was seeking a preliminary injunction to try to stop the ordinance before it takes effect.
“The question is whether the City of Lincoln can operate as a super-legislature and modify the laws that the Legislature passes on statewide issues,” Hilgers said. “They can’t, but are trying anyway, so we are forced to sue to uphold the Constitution and state law.”
The lawsuit comes as Lincoln passed an ordinance to make changes to the minimum wage and set it above what the Nebraska Legislature had dictated.
In 2022, voters passed an initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by January 1, 2026, with annual cost-of-living increases each year. The Legislature during the 2026 session made changes to the initiative to allow for a temporary youth wage, as well as capped the cost-of-living increase at 1.75%. Lincoln’s ordinance overrode the Legislature’s youth wage and increased the annual cost-of-living adjustments.
Hilgers called the ordinance an “effective rewrite” of state law and said it was “clearly unconstitutional.”
“The Legislature said the minimum-wage growth rate ‘shall’ be 1.75%; the City’s ordinance would modify that statute to say ‘shall not’ and sets the growth rate at a different level. Similarly, the Legislature said that employers ‘may’ pay youth employees a minimum wage of $13.50 per hour; the City’s ordinance effectively rewrites that law to say ‘may not’ and instead requires employers to pay youth employees $15 per hour,” his office said in a statement.
The attorney general had previously issued an opinion stating that the ordinance was unconstitutional after State Sen. Jane Raybould had requested his office to weigh in on the issue.
During the Q&A at the press conference, Hilgers said he brought the lawsuit instead of a private business because he had heard from business owners who were afraid of “retaliation” from the city if they sued.
The city of Omaha has signaled they are looking to pass a similar increase in the minimum wage. Hilgers said he expected the city would not move on the measure until a court rules on the Lincoln ordinance.
James Michael Bowers, the Lincoln councilman who introduced the minimum wage increase, had previously issued a statement saying he believed the ordinance was constitutional.
“It is not surprising that the state claims Lincoln doesn’t have the authority. They already seem to believe voters don’t have the authority either,” Bowers said. “The Attorney General’s opinion is not legally binding and has been incorrect before. The Council will not be intimidated by an opinion dropped on a Friday before a Monday vote.”
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird issued a statement on Thursday defending the city’s ordinance.
“The City will review the Attorney General’s filing once we receive it. In the meantime, Lincoln’s local government remains focused on advancing our community members’ economic security. The City Council’s legislation to honor the voter-approved minimum wage changes does just that.”
This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.