LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The new year brought a welcome pay hike for Nebraskans earning minimum wage, going into effect just a few months ago after voters overwhelmingly passed the increase.
Now that the law is passed lawmakers, lobbyists and local grocers are hoping to change it.
“We came to the legislature to help soften the blow,” Ansley Fellers, with the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association said.
Soften the blow for businesses like Roni Branting’s. She and her husband own Economy Hometown Market in Stromsburg. The store has been open and family owned since 1945 and she wants to keep it that way.
“You look at any small towns that have lost their grocery store or don’t have that type of service,” Branting said. “That means everyone in your community has to drive elsewhere for their very basic needs.”
Branting said with the increases that already went into effect, her payroll for 2023 will go up by $10,000 and a lot of businesses can’t survive increases like that each year.
“Anytime we have to come up with those extra funds it’s going to affect us in how we can run our business and things we can do to improve or make things better for customers,” Branting said.
It’s why Lincoln senator Jane Raybould prioritized a bill that combined two proposed changes to the minimum wage law voters approved in 2022. Nearly 60% of voters chose to have the minimum wage jump to $10.50 in January, to increase to $15 an hour by 2026 with additional annual raises promised every year after that...
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