I am here today, in support of LB 383, introduced by Senator Quick.
Ensuring good wages for our working families is important for many reasons, recent public opinion research in Nebraska shows that 44% of blue-collar men and women said Nebraska families do not have the tools and services they needed to attain a middle-class lifestyle. And, a majority of all Nebraskans (57%) believe that state economic policy has done nothing or very little to help families in poverty.
LB 383 works to help Nebraskans attain a middle-class lifestyle and further opportunities to succeed. Particularly – by tying the minimum wage to inflation families will be able to keep up with the rising costs of inflation. LB 383 will allow Nebraskans to better succeed in maintaining a sustainable income to support their families and provide economic security they need for better opportunities to get ahead.
Recently the Economic Policy Institute released a report on the impact on increasing the minimum-wage.
Quote:
Over the last five decades the real (inflation-adjusted) value of the minimum wage—a key tool in the fight against poverty—has steadily eroded. Minimum wage increases have been too infrequent to keep up with inflation, let alone raise the real value of the minimum wage above where it was in 1968. While a full-time minimum wage worker in 1968 would have earned $20,600 a year (in 2017 dollars), a worker paid the federal minimum wage in 2017 could only earn $15,080 working full time, a single parent of one child would be consigned to poverty if that parent earned the federal minimum wage
–Ben Zipperer, Economic Policy Institute – Economic Snapshot, June 13, 2018
We strongly support LB 383 and believe the bill would promote better economic outcomes and security for all Nebraska’s families and children. We strongly urge you to advance LB 383.
-Joey Adler
Director of Strategic Engagement