The drumbeat has gone on for the past several years now, and it continued this week in the state of Delaware. At the last minute, the Delaware state senate on Tuesday postponed an expected vote on legislation hiking the current state minimum wage of $8.25 to $10.25 an hour by 2020 and subsequently tie future increases to Social Security cost of living adjustments. A similar bill had also passed the senate in the last session, but it ultimately died in the Delaware Assembly.  It is not clear when a vote on the measure will be held in the senate. Up in the state of Maine, the both branches have now taken bipartisan action and approved specific changes to a voter-approved minimum wage bill. Voters approved a ballot initiative in November that increased the minimum to $12 an hour in 2020 and eliminated the state’s tip credit – the result of which was a reduction in wages for some tipped employees. Final approval is necessary but should not be a problem in either the house or the senate and Maine Governor LePage advocated for changes, so he is expected to sign the bill should it reach his desk. Civil rights groups filed amicus briefs Monday of this week urging the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court decision dismissing a Birmingham Alabama wage hike. The NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries challenged an Alabama preemption bill that negated Birmingham’s local minimum wage of $10.10. Their suit alleged the preemption is discriminatory because the voting black majority in Birmingham approved the increase. Do stay tuned!