OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The Omaha City Council has passed its own minimum wage ordinance supporting a $15 an hour minimum wage, entering a legal fight already underway between Lincoln and Nebraska’s attorney general.
Four years ago, signed petitions were turned over to change Nebraska’s minimum wage law. Voters later approved the Wage and Hour Act, calling for a $15 an hour minimum wage with annual cost-of-living increases linked to the Consumer Price Index.
State lawmakers later made changes to the Wage and Hour Act, placing a 1.75% lid on annual growth and allowing lower wages for young workers and trainees.
The city of Lincoln defended the original ordinance, moving ahead with a $15 an hour minimum wage. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers filed a lawsuit against Lincoln to block its minimum wage ordinance.
Omaha City Council President Danny Begley brought the ordinance forward.
“What I’m doing is reiterating and fighting for what the voters said they wanted. In this day and age, a lot of people feel disenfranchised with their votes. I want to stand up and fight for the 70.2% of people in Omaha who said they wanted this,” Begley said.
Begley acknowledged the legal risk but said he was prepared for it.
“If that means we have to get sued and go to court, I fully understand that and it’s a fight that I want to have and I hope my colleagues on the council will support that as well,” Begley said.
Begley also pushed back on the attorney general’s legal...
A video is being widely circulated on social media with sensational claims that “Goodbye Islam in Iran,” alleging that over ten tons of Qurans were thrown into a river and more than 50,000 mosques...