- $12 vs. $15 minimum-wage debate continues between economists, experts, politicians, By Olivera Perkins, January 7, 2016, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Go to any minimum wage rally in the past few years, and there is one number dominating the event: $15. It’s scrawled on the bouncing placards held by rally goers. Emblazoned on their banners. Laced through their chants. But many economists and other think tank experts, even those supporting a substantial hike to the federal minimum wage, are questioning if $15 is too high. For many of them, $12 is more realistic or probable, especially if it is phased-in by 2020…”
- Some businesses say Nebraska’s $9 minimum wage will be a burden, but others just shrug, By Janice Podsada, January 6, 2016, Omaha World-Herald: “The sometimes rough-and-tumble job of refereeing ’25 to 75 large dogs at serious play’ now pays $9 an hour at an Omaha doggie day care facility, but that’s just to start. If new employees work out, ‘they’ll see their pay raised to $10 an hour after a few weeks,’ said Renee Johnson, owner of ComeSitStay, a dog day care and overnight boarding facility at 180th and Harrison Streets. On Jan. 1, Nebraska’s minimum wage leapt to $9 an hour for nontipped workers from $8 in 2015, a 12.5 percent increase…”
- Push begins to increase Oregon minimum wage, By Ed Russo, January 8, 2016, Register-Guard: “With the Legislature preparing to convene, activists say they are launching a signature-gathering drive to increase Oregon’s minimum wage within two years to $13.50 an hour. The Portland-based Raise the Wage Coalition said Thursday that it will ‘hit the streets in communities across the state’ to collect the 89,000 signatures required to put Initiative Petition 58 on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the measure would raise the statewide minimum hourly wage to $13.50 by 2018…”
- Oregon, Washington slide as leaders in minimum wage, By Jeff Mapes, January 7, 2016, Oregon Public Broadcasting: “After a decade of mandating the highest minimum wages in the country, Washington and Oregon are now dropping back in the pack. Six other states jumped past Washington and Oregon – which had been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 since 2005 – at the start of the new year, thanks largely to efforts in several legislatures around the country to raise the wage floor for workers…”
Tag: Nebraska
Unemployment Benefits – Nebraska
Stricter state benefits requirements may soon call for jobless to make 5 contacts a week with employers, By Paul Hammel, August 6, 2015, Omaha World-Herald: “The state’s plan to hasten the transition from unemployment to ‘re-employment’ is getting mixed reviews. Under proposed changes to the state’s ‘work search’ requirements, Nebraskans on unemployment would be required to make five contacts a week with potential employers, up from the current two a week. If they remain on unemployment, such workers would have to eventually increase the number of days devoted to searching for a new job from one day a week to three or four days a week…”
Kids Count Report – Nebraska
- Report: Nebraskans working hard, but falling behind — and kids are paying the price, By Erin Andersen, January 29, 2015, Lincoln Journal Star: “Nearly 41 percent of Nebraska kids — more than two out of every five — are growing up in a low-income family. The vast majority have parents working one, two or more jobs. A disproportionate number of these children are minorities. Those are among the findings of the 2014 Kids Count Report in Nebraska. The report, released Thursday, measures child well-being in economic stability, health, education, child welfare and juvenile justice. It’s intended to provide policymakers with strong data about Nebraska’s children and families…”
- Number of low-income kids in Nebraska rose from 2005-2013, report says, By Betsie Freeman, January 29, 2015, Omaha World-Herald: “The number of Nebraska children growing up in low-income families rose almost 5 percentage points from 2005 to 2013, according to the yearly Kids Count report that will be released today. Last year, nearly 41 percent of the state’s youths came from low-income households, compared with 36.5 percent eight years earlier, according to statistics compiled by Voices for Children in Nebraska, the advocacy group for young people that produces the report. A low-income household is one in which wage-earners make below 200 percent of the federal poverty line…”