This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Rep. Sandack Argues against Raising Illinois Minimum Wage; Says it would Hurt, not Help Job Creation

Illinois voters may have an opportunity on November 4 to weigh in on whether or not the minimum wage in Illinois should be increased to $10 per hour for those over the age of 18.

The House of Representatives advanced the proposal this week in a 71-43 vote. The legislation now moves to the Senate, and if approved it will be put before voters as a non-binding referendum in the November 4 General Election.

“Illinois already has the fourth highest minimum wage in the country, and every one of the states that neighbors Illinois has a lower minimum wage,” said Sandack. “This affects our competitive advantage. Raising our minimum wage to $10 per hour would shoot us to the top of that list. It would cause our job creators to hire fewer workers, lay off existing employees, or worse yet, move out of Illinois where the costs of doing business would be significantly less expensive.”

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Illinois’ current minimum wage is $8.25, which is $1.00 higher than Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin, and 75 cents higher than Missouri. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

“While well-meaning, I believe this legislation would have an unintended negative consequence,” Sandack said. “We need to aim higher and focus on good paying jobs for working families, because even at $10 per hour, those are not the types of jobs that can support a family.”

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Click here to view Sandack’s debate with House Speaker Mike Madigan on the issue.


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?