LINCOLN — Legislative changes this year to annual bumps in Nebraska’s minimum wage mean workers’ increase next year will be 29 cents less than what voters approved in 2022.

New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released this month indicates a 3.6% annual rise in the Consumer Price Index for goods and services between August 2025 and August 2026 for the Midwest region. That’s the indicator voters approved to calculate minimum wage bumps beginning in 2027, after Nebraska’s minimum wage hit $15 this year.

State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln talks with state Sen. Stan Clouse of Kearney before debate on her priority bill to amend voter-approved annual increases to the state’s minimum wage. March 31, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) Over the past 25 years, inflation for the Midwest averaged 2.4% and was at or below 1.75% 11 times, as low as -1.8% between 2008 and 2009 and as high as 8.1% between 2021 and 2022, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Midwest. Average inflation for the past five years was 4.1%, while over the past 10 years, it was 3.2%.

State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, who led the changes in Legislative Bill 258, and Sen. Stan Clouse of Kearney, who pushed for a consistent increase, said predictability was key. The bill passed 33-16, with Raybould, a Democrat, joining 32 of 33 Republicans in support of her bill. Raybould’s law also created a “youth minimum wage,” allowing employers to pay teens ages 14 or 15 a lower wage, $13.50 hourly, beginning July 19.

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