Voters in Nevada have decided to increase the state’s minimum wage.
Nevada voters have approved Question 2, a ballot provision that will raise the minimum wage in the Silver State to $12 per hour by July 2024.
The provision also ensures the state’s minimum wage cannot go below the federal minimum wage, meaning that, should the federal minimum wage increase beyond $12 per hour, so too would Nevada’s minimum wage.
Question 2 also scraps Nevada’s tiered system of minimum wage that is based on other benefits workers receive and does away with a law marrying minimum wage increases to annual inflation growth.
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Nevada’s current minimum wage is $9.50 per hour if an employer offers health benefits and $10.50 per hour if the employer does not. The vast majority of people already earn above the minimum wage, with just 0.9% getting paid at or below the threshold, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Supporters of the ballot measure argued that it is unfair that some workers get paid a dollar less than others in similar positions because of benefits.
“We have heard story after story where businesses are able to pay $1 less than the current minimum wage in the state simply because they offer unaffordable, garbage healthcare plans that employees rarely opt into because of cost,” said Annette Magnus, the executive director of the advocacy group Battle Born Progress.
Opponents of Question 2 argued that its passage would be a detriment to workers because it could force businesses that can’t afford to pay their employees more to lay off workers.
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“Since 1990, 80% of studies have found that increasing the minimum wage causes companies to cut jobs,” said Marcos Lopez, the legislative liaison for Americans for Prosperity-Nevada.
Minimum wage hikes were also on ballots in Nebraska and Washington, D.C.
