LINCOLN – After suffering a setback in the Nebraska Legislature, supporters of a higher state minimum wage are wasting little time in gathering signatures to place the issue on the November ballot.

To put the question to voters at the general election, supporters must submit about 83,000 verified signatures by July 3 — but they hope to gather far more to ensure that the measure will qualify.

Organizers have met their initial targets in the petition drive, and paid canvassers have walked the streets of Lincoln and Omaha every day since the campaign was launched last month, said state Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, a spokesman for the group Nebraskans for Better Wages.

If successful, the petition drive would let Nebraska voters decide whether to gradually increase the state's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 by January 2016. It also would set up a campaign battle with business groups that oppose the measure.

Nebraska's minimum wage — which matches the federal minimum wage — was last increased in 2009. Twenty-one states have minimum wages above the federal minimum, including bordering states Colorado and Missouri.

Several polls have indicated a majority of Nebraskans support raising the minimum wage, but the proposal is opposed by business groups that contend it would cut into the profits of small companies that are most vulnerable to financial pressures. A higher wage could also make it more difficult for businesses to hire young, inexperienced workers who want on-the-job training, according to some.

Meanwhile, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin approved legislation to incrementally phase in a higher minimum wage, to reach $10.10 in January 2018. The Vermont House had originally passed a bill that would have raised the wage to $10.10 next January, but the Governor and Senate preferred the slower, phased-in increase to reduce the impact on employers. In the final days of the legislative session, the bill with the four-step plan was the measure that won Democratic, Progressive and Republican support.