Delaware Senate approves $1 minimum wage increase

DOVER, Del. (AP) - The Democrat-led state Senate has narrowly passed a bill raising Delaware's minimum wage after barely defeating similar legislation earlier this year.

The bill was approved 11-to-10 on Saturday on a strict party line vote. It now goes to the House, which is also controlled by Democrats.

The legislation would increase the current minimum wage of $8.25 an hour to $8.75 an hour on Oct. 1, and by another 50 cents next year to $9.25 an hour effective Oct. 1, 2019. A similar bill failed in March on a 10-to-9 vote.

The pending legislation was introduced a week after the first bill failed. It was amended just before Saturday's vote to eliminate another proposed two-step increase that would have further raised the minimum wage to $10.25 per hour effective Oct. 1, 2021.