# Omaha Council delays vote on teen minimum wage ordinance  
**Published:** 2026-06-18T18:10:00.000Z  
**Source:** [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/june-16-the-omaha-city-council-reviews-increasing-minimum-wage/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/omaha-council-delays-vote-on-teen-minimum-wage-ordinance

OMAHA, Neb. — [The Omaha City Council heard testimony on an ordinance that would restore a $15 minimum wage for all workers](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/june-16-the-omaha-city-council-reviews-increasing-minimum-wage/), including teenagers, during a June 16 meeting, ultimately postponing the vote until July 14.

The ordinance would create a new chapter of the Omaha Municipal Code to address young workers' wages, a response to Nebraska's passage of LB 258 in February, which created a separate, lower hourly minimum wage for youth workers more than two years after voters approved a ballot measure that increased the minimum wage for all workers to $15 an hour starting in January 2026.

Under the new law, the minimum wage for 14- and 15-year-olds is $13.50 an hour, the same amount as a new training wage for workers between the ages of 16 and 19.

The ordinance was drafted at the request of Council President Danny Begley, who said he was simply putting before the council what voters already passed. At the June 16 hearing, voters' intent was evident: A 2022 ballot initiative was designed to gradually increase the minimum wage each year up to 2026, with increases pegged to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index after 2026.

Supporters testified that many teens in Omaha aren't working for discretionary spending. Eric Reiter with Voices for Children noted that many teens in Omaha work to meet basic needs, with some supporting themselves and others contributing to their families, describing wages as "about survival" rather than convenience.

Opposition to the ordinance came from the business community. The Greater Omaha Chamber's president wrote that while the metro must continue to grow wages through economic growth, a city-by-city minimum wage ordinance would create inconsistent wage standards inside a single, interconnected labor and business market.

Last month, the Lincoln City Council passed its own city ordinance aimed at restoring the voter-approved minimum wage plan, but Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers released an opinion contending the City Council lacked authority to set its own minimum wage.

In Omaha, council members Pete Festersen and Lavonya Goodwin expressed support for the city's ordinance, while council members Aimee Melton and Don Rowe said they have legal questions to answer before the final vote scheduled for July 14.

## Sources

- [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/june-16-the-omaha-city-council-reviews-increasing-minimum-wage/)
- [Nebraska Public Media coverage of Omaha's minimum wage ordinance](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/omaha-chamber-opposes-ordinance-to-restore-15-minimum-wage-for-younger-workers/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Flatwater Free Press, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://flatwaterfreepress.org/june-16-the-omaha-city-council-reviews-increasing-minimum-wage/.