LEGISLATURE

2019

wage in Nevada will increase gradually to $12 per hour by over the next five years for employees who are not offered health insurance and $11 for those who are.

The incremental increases start

July 1, 2020, when the state’s minimum wage will rise by 75 cents, and will continue at that rate each year until it hits its apex in 2024.

Nevada’s wage floor has not changed since 2010 when it was set at $8.25 for workers not offered health benefits and $7.25 otherwise. Nearly 300,000 Nevadans will see higher pay under the new minimum wage law, according to an study conducted by the Washington, D.c.-based think tank Economic Policy Institute.

“Keeping working Nevadans stuck in a 10-year-old minimum wage erodes the real value and purchasing power of the wages of hardworking Nevadans,” Sisolak said Wednesday before signing the bill. “But with this bill, hundreds of thousands of working Nevadans will see a difference in their paycheck — extra hard-earned money they can use to put food on the table, save for their kids’ education, and re-invest into the economy.”

Advocates hoped that with Democrats in control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office, Nevada would join the likes of California, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts in raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. That wasn’t the case this session, but many of those advocates are coming away from the session feeling like Nevada took a step in the right direction.

“It’s a good start,” said Laura Martin, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. “We’re still going to be fighting for

$15, but $12 is a significant win.”

The $12 mark was born out of conversations with both voters and business owners, Speaker Jason Frierson, D-las Vegas, told reporters Wednesday.

Senate Bill 166, also signed