Business Advocates Outnumbered at Hearing to Raise Lincoln Minimum Wage

by John Gage

(Photo courtesy of the City of Lincoln)

The Lincoln City Council heard from the public at a hearing over a proposal to increase the city’s minimum wage. The council listened to over 2 and a half hours of testimony on Monday, mostly from Lincoln residents but also a handful of nonprofits and business advocates.

The ordinance, introduced by council member James Michael Bowers, would undo the Legislature’s recent change to the state’s minimum wage of $15, allowing for a lower youth wage and a slower cost-of-living increase.

Lincoln Zehr, the president of the Lincoln Independent Business Association, said he felt “like Don Quixote” being one of the few testifiers against the proposal. Zehr said he had heard from his members “loudly and consistently” about how the increase would harm their businesses.

“The economic evidence shows that mandated wage hikes can create, what I call, unintended consequences,” he said. “Small businesses, especially those who run on thin margins, are disproportionately affected.”

Ahead of the hearing, the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce sent out a statement opposing the minimum wage increase. “Free enterprise approach is what will enable sustainable wage and standard of living enhancements over time,” Jason Ball, president of the Lincoln Chamber, said. “Whether it is this specific proposal before the Lincoln City Council, the recent voter approved minimum wage standard, or other policies, the impact is the same. Small businesses are harmed, and by extension, so are their employees and the customers they serve.”

Proponent testimony largely focused on the fact that the majority of the city had supported the 2022 ballot initiative, which raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour and mandated an annual cost-of-living increase.

“Nearly 60% of Nebraska voters supported these protections as did 70% of Lincoln voters,” Elizabeth Engman, a senior community organizer with Nebraska Appleseed, said. “Those are pretty significant numbers of support for this policy.” Engman argued that state senators had created an “inequity” towards Nebraska’s youth when they voted to create a lower youth wage this past session.

Lincoln State Sen. Danielle Conrad also testified for the measure, focusing on the constitutionality of the proposed ordinance. “There is no specific preemption on the books in Nebraska that would prevent a community from setting a wage standard that’s right for them,” Conrad said.

Conrad added that the city council should support the “will of the people.”

“I've been in public life for a long time, and I know that you have hard and difficult decisions on issues that come before this body,” she said. “But I will tell you this. In all my years in public office, what's not a hard vote is a vote to uphold the will of the people.”

Conrad’s testimony follows a letter sent by her colleague, Lincoln State Sen. Jane Raybould, which defended the Legislature’s decision to modify the minimum wage ballot measure that passed.

“I understand and acknowledge your frustrations with other ballot measures. The initiative process allows limited space to fully consider unintended consequences. It is the legislature’s role to balance competing interests and ensure that no single part of the economy is unduly harmed,” Raybould said. “Without commonsense adjustments such as those included in LB258, it will become increasingly difficult for employers to hire young people, individuals entering or reentering the workforce, and people with disabilities.”

Raybould has asked the attorney general to determine whether the ordinance is constitutional or not.

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

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