Speaking of Maine, the state’s biggest city, Portland is facing a ballot question in November that could establish a local minimum wage of $18 per hour and at the same time eliminate the tip credit for workers within Portland. The state chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has filed the requisite paperwork to phase in an increase to $18 per hour over a three-year period. In addition, the DSA proposal would create a new Department of Fair Labor Practices and expand the types of workers covered by the minimum wage mandate to include taxi drivers, delivery workers and others. Portland voters previously approved a COVID-19 hazard pay mandate on the 2020 ballot which took effect in January of this year. That measure translated into a $19.50 per hour during any declared public emergency, but it was quickly rescinded two weeks later in the face of overwhelming business opposition.  Elsewhere across the country, we’re keeping an eye on other ballot initiatives including AJR10 in Nevada, which would eliminate the lower minimum wage requirement for small employers and mandate a minimum wage of $12/hour for all employers; a Raise the Wage initiative in Nebraska that would hike the minimum to $15 per hour if proponents meet the signature requirement by the July 7 deadline; Initiative #21-0043 in California which, having collected one million signatures against a requirement of 623,000+, will be on the ballot to raise the state minimum to $18 an hour by 2026; and finally Initiative 82 in Washington DC, which we’ve advised in the past would eliminate the tipped wage in the Nation’s Capitol.