City of Lincoln attorney's office submits brief backing minimum wage ordinance

The City of Lincoln on Friday submitted its brief arguing against the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office’s request for a temporary injunction over the city’s minimum wage ordinance.

In the brief, arguments from the city attorney’s office say that the Attorney General’s office cannot prove irreparable harm if the law goes into effect. It argues the state would only be harmed if the “wage ordinance set the minimum wage at an amount lower” than what the Legislature set in the past session.

The ordinance will maintain a $15 minimum wage for all employees regardless of age in Lincoln. In subsequent years, rates will increase based on cost of living.

Earlier this year, the legislature set an annual minimum wage increase cap at 1.75%. It also set minimum wage for minors at $13.50 an hour – both efforts championed by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln.

The city’s submitted brief argues Lincoln has the means to go beyond the state’s cap given its home rule charter.

Cody Barnett, who represented Attorney General Mike Hilgers at a July 2 hearing, disagreed.

“Nebraska sovereignty is threatened by what the city of Lincoln is doing. Nebraska more than generously gave the city home rule charter to let them enact ordinances on many topics, but there is a rubicon beyond which the city cannot go, and that is to enact laws that rewrite state laws on issues of statewide concern,” Barnett argued.

According to the city, though, older cases brought forward as evidence by the AG’s office rely on Omaha’s “grant of rights” charter, which didn’t allow Omaha to “adopt an ordinance regulating fair employment opportunities.” The city argues that those cases are not applicable to Lincoln’s legal framework.

The city rebutted claims that Lincoln employers could be in violation of either law, saying its ordinance supplements state law rather than conflicts with it.

“Is it possible to follow state law? And the answer is yes. Employers in the city of Lincoln that follow the city's law will be in compliance with state law,” Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie said at the initial hearing. “It's not impossible for employers to follow state law.”

With Lancaster County District Judge Lori A. Maret delaying granting Hilgers a temporary injunction, the Lincoln ordinance is still set to go into effect July 18.

The AG’s office will have until Tuesday to submit a response to the city’s brief.