There is a new law brewing in the state of Nebraska’s capital of Lincoln that has everything to do with the new federal minimum wage law, which was signed (as we all know by now) by President Bush this past week, along with the supplemental spending bill that it was attached to.
I am talking about a legislative amendment that was working its way through the Nebraska legislature this past week. It was first introduced by state Sen. Danielle Nantkes from Lincoln, and her proposal was to have the Nebraska minimum wage increase each time that the federal minimum wage increase would. So when the federal minimum wage goes up to $5.85 per hour from its current level of $5.15 per hour two months from now, so will the Nebraska minimum wage—as it would when the federal minimum wage goes up to $6.50 per hour in 2008 and then $7.25 per hour in 2009.
Why does Nebraska need to even consider such a law? Won’t the federal minimum wage increase affect all of the employers in the Corn Husker State anyways? How long have you been reading my blog, you!? For shame!
Kidding aside, as we all know the federal minimum wage deals with those employers liable to follow the Fair Labor Standards Act, or those employers who bring in more than $500,000 per year in revenue or who deal in interstate commerce, as well as some other employers like schools, hospitals, and government agencies. The Nebraska minimum wage covers all other employers in the state—as long as they have four or more employers. So you can see that any increase to the federal minimum wage without a similar increase to the Nebraska minimum wage could leave employers not having to pay the former and wondering what to do.
