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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1997)
Minimum wage may increase Legislation would make most businesses fulfill the national criteria for base salary rates. By Brian Carlton StaffReporter A legislative bill that would in crease the state minimum wage to con form with new federal standards whs advanced to the flow of the Legisla ture Monday. LB569, sponsored by Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln, would require em ployers with four or more employees to pay employees $5.15 per hour be ginning Sept. 1, 1997. The legislation follows last year’s passage by Congress of a federal mini mum wage increase. The two-step in crease raised the minimum wage to $4.75 per hour effective Oct. 1,1996, and will raise it to $5.15 per hour be ginning Sept. 1, 1997. Wesely said the state legislation was necessary because the federal minimum wage does not cover all Nebraska employees. Employees who fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers gross ing more than $500,000 annually and employers engaged in interstate com merce are bound by the federal law. State law expands the minimum wage to cover all employers with four or more employees. Gordon Peterson, representing the Nebraska Association of Trial Attor neys, said an increase in the minimum wage for all workers was needed to prevent dangerous economic gaps in society. “Tliere have been several studies that show a shrinking of the middle class and growing numbers of the pov erty class,” he said. “That is a very negative, potentially long-term pros pect for this country.” Kris Morrissey, director of policy for Voices for Children, said the gov ernment had a responsibility to fight the negative effects of childhood pov erty. Although Head Start and govern ment welfare programs provide some assistance to poor families and chil dren, Morrissey said, an increase in the minimum wage was the most im portant step in curbing poverty. “Most agree, the best way to tem per poverty in children is to raise the parents’ wages,” Morrissey said. Members of the Legislature’s Busi ness and Labor Committee unani mously voted to place the measure on general file for consideration by the entire legislative body. The committee took no action on LB860, a separate bill sponsored by Wesely which would create the Ne braska Commission on Jobs and Wages. The proposed commission, to be composed of business and labor leaders appointed by the governor, would be responsible for investigating the state’s labor conditions in relation to national rankings. According to Nebraska Depart ment of Labor information provided by Wesely in his testimony, an esti mated 110,000 Nebraskans hold jobs paying $5.00 per hour or less. Nebraska’s average wage places it in the bottom 10 percent of all states. The average wage in Nebraska is 23 percent below the national average. Although the state’s cost of living is lower than the national average, the difference is less than 12 percent. At $5.15 per hour, a full-time mini mum wage worker would earn $10,300 annually. This figure is 15 percent below the national average of the 1970s after factoring out inflation. The Nebraska Commission on Jobs and Wages would study wage factors such as worker skills and education, the state’s low unemployment rate, work-place technology and state eco nomic development policies. “The goal is to join hands between business and labor and search for some common ground for improving wages in the state of Nebraska,” Wesely said. Colleges could get aid From Staff Reports Nebraska’s private nonprofit col leges and universities would get state money to provide student financial aid under a legislative bill heard Monday. Sen. Daniel Lynch of Omaha in troduced LB645 to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. The bill would allocate $605,000 in 1997-98, and $1.1 million in 1998-99 for finan cial aid. The money would come from Nebraska’s General Fund. Thomas O’Neill, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Nebraska, said stu dents should decide on a college based on where they have the best chance for academic success — not based on tuition costs. No one spoke in opposition to the bill. Phillips pleads innocent to charge I OMAHA (AP) — St. Louis Rams running back Lawrence Phillips pleaded innocent to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a party at an Omaha hotel that police said got out of hand. Phillips, 21, waived his arraignment and did not appear in Douglas County Court Monday but entered the plea to the misdemeanor charge through his attorney. The former Nebraska I-back was arrested r for disorderly conduct last month when police responded to complaints of noise at a party in Phillips’ hotel room at the Red Lion Inn. Po lice said Phillips was upset when officers ar rived and had to be restrained by two men at the party. Phillips also is scheduled to be in court in Lancaster County for a hearing to determine if he violated his probation for a September 1995 assault on his former girlfriend. lawaoniej^^^ Arson A child doused some items in an aban doned garage with gasoline and lit the build ing on fire with a cigarette lighter, destroy v ing the garage and landing him in trouble with the law. Lincoln Police Sgt. Ann Heermann said the 10-year-old child was arrested and re ferred to Youth Aid Sunday evening after police investigated a suspected arson. The Lincoln Fire Department was called to the burning garage at 400 W. Saunders Ave. at 5:05 p.m. A witness said he saw two children running away from the garage af ter the fire started. The garage sits on a lot next to a demolished house. Loss was reported to be $5,000. I * _ Firearms An intoxicated man toting two Civil War-era guns was arrested after he fired them three times in a north Lincoln neigh borhood. Floyd Marit, 42, of Lincoln, was arrested near 47th and Colfax streets after police set up a perimeter and caught him running along some railroad tracks, Heermann said. A witness told police he heard two gun shots and went outside to investigate. When he was outside, he heard a third shot and saw a man running north on 49th Street. Marit was arrested and jailed for dis charging a firearm in the city limits. He built the firearms from do-it-yourself kits. Month $19.95 Save 20% on all ^^j^^^^^Califomia Tan Lotions ATTN: UNL MEN Do you love football? Do you love basketball? Are you a sports fanatic? If you are, the Yell Squad is the place to be! Come to a practice and work out with the nationally ranked University of Nebraska Cheerleaders. For tiyout Information call Renee Swartz at (402) 472-4622 or E-mail: rswartzOhuskers.unl.edu STA Travel is the world’s largest travel organization specializing in low-cost travel for students. PSST! Got the urge to travel? STA Travel has great student airfares to destinations around the world. Go shopping on our website for current student airfares. (800) 777-0112 _Stf www.sta-travel.com _ "The world is like a book, and those that never leave home read but one page" — St. Augustine Peace Corps Is Coming To UNL! Information Table March 10-11 9 am - 3 pm Nebraska Union Film Show "Completely Alive" March 11th, 3pm Room posted