In a press release on June 18, 2026, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers challenged a Lincoln ordinance that reinstated the $15 minimum wage for all workers in the city (overriding the state’s youth minimum wage of $13.50 per hour passed by the Nebraska Legislature in its 2026 session).

“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.”

Omaha is set to vote on a similar measure on July 14. Hilgers hopes for a ruling before it is considered in Omaha. Read more at the Nebraska Examiner. 

In 2022, members of the League of Women Voters of Nebraska collected petition signatures in support of a ballot initiative to establish a minimum wage statute, known as Initiative Measure 433. This measure — which was approved by Nebraska voters in 2022 — raised the state’s minimum wage from $9 to $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2026.

In the 2026 legislative session, state senators voted to change the law, allowing employers to pay 14- and 15-year-olds $13.50 an hour and also 16- through 19-year-olds during a 30-day training period. The law also slowed down minimum wage increases for other workers.

We support the current circulating petition, Protect Nebraskans’ Initiative and Referendum Powers Constitutional Amendment, which would require a four-fifths vote of the Legislature to override the provisions of the change, impair or repeal of  citizen initiated laws.