Federal Court to Hear Birmingham Minimum Wage Case
A federal appeals court in Atlanta is scheduled to hear arguments Friday in a case over Birmingham’s attempt to increase the minimum wage in the city to $10.10 an hour.
The Birmingham City Council approved a phased-in plan to boost the minimum wage in 2015. Then in 2016, the Alabama Legislature passed a law that voided the increase by prohibiting cities from setting their own minimum wage.
Fast food workers and other low-wage employees, the NAACP and other groups contested the legislature’s action in court. They said lawmakers’ actions were racially motivated because the Alabama legislature overturned the actions of a predominately black city council. At issue is whether the legislature violated the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.
Lawyers say it could be several months before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a ruling.
Birmingham is 3rd worst in the Southeast for ozone pollution, new report says
The American Lung Association's "State of the Air" report shows some metro areas in the Gulf States continue to have poor air quality.
Why haven’t Kansas and Alabama — among other holdouts — expanded access to Medicaid?
Only 10 states have not joined the federal program that expands Medicaid to people who are still in the "coverage gap" for health care
Once praised, settlement to help sickened BP oil spill workers leaves most with nearly nothing
Thousands of ordinary people who helped clean up after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico say they got sick. A court settlement was supposed to help compensate them, but it hasn’t turned out as expected.
Q&A: How harm reduction can help mitigate the opioid crisis
Maia Szalavitz discusses harm reduction's effectiveness against drug addiction, how punitive policies can hurt people who need pain medication and more.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring a Community Engagement Producer
The Gulf States Newsroom is seeking a curious, creative and collaborative professional to work with our regional team to build up engaged journalism efforts.
Gambling bills face uncertain future in the Alabama legislature
This year looked to be different for lottery and gambling legislation, which has fallen short for years in the Alabama legislature. But this week, with only a handful of meeting days left, competing House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to work out differences.
