I just added WBEZ’s news feed to the right side of the page, and to kick things off here’s a story from the station that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Chicago may not be the only city with a so-called ‘big box’ rule, if one politician has his way. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn says he wants a state-wide living wage law for large chain retailers.

“If they think the secret to success is to drive down the wages of their hard working productive employees, and not pay them health benefits and then tell the state of Illinois, ‘Well, through your Medicaid program we expect you to pay the health coverage of our workers.’ There’s something wrong with that, and we’re not going to put up with it,” he says.

Quinn says he’ll speak to legislators after this November’s elections to gather support for the measure.

       

37 Comments - Leroy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:31 pm: Quinn says he’ll speak to legislators after this November’s elections Why wait? This topic is far too important for us to wait. Confer: All Kids. - HoosierDaddy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:32 pm: No matter that the cost of living here is about 1/2 that in Chicago… Gee, thanks Pat. Do you also have a plan for all of the large empty buildings we’ll end up with? - Pat Hickey - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:36 pm: I thought that Pat Quinn was sharper than that. Maybe he was just playing to the three listeners of Wind-Chime radio. The Big Box will go down like Ken Lay and might be almost as dead. - Bad for Business - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:02 pm: As if his boss hasn’t done enough to destroy the business climate in this state… - HANKSTER - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:15 pm: Oh no Walmart and others are going to have to leave the 5th biggest state in the country instead of paying a living wage! Then what happens when other states pass a living wage? Big box stores will eventually have to leave the country and there will be no more stores for the 300 million Americans! HELP!!! - Grocery Guy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:17 pm: Pat Quinn knows what a popular issue living wage and increasing the minimum wage is among voters. This is a very smart move on Quinn’s part. Voters in Chicago, State and National polls overwhelminly support increasing wages. After 20 years, voters realize that it doesn’t “trickle down”. - Anon - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:35 pm: The living may not drive the businesses out of the state completly, but it will reduce the number of people employeed. - HANKSTER - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:42 pm: Anon: The logical extension of your claim is that eventually we will have to have wages at 3rd world levels in order to keep any significant level of jobs in America. - Downtown Mike - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:42 pm: Can anybody tell me why the guy or girl working for Home Depot is worth more than their counterpart working at the corner Ace Hardware? They essentially do the same thing, but one will be guaranteed to make $10/hour plus benefits while the other will be guaranteed to make only minimum wage. In towns where they don’t currently operate, the Wal-Marts and Targets will stay away and the residents will be forced to pay higher prices locally or to drive miles away for cheaper goods. With the price of gas, will it be worth it? - Wumpus - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:45 pm: Heck, I may move downstate and work at Walmart. It’d be a simpler life indeed. Less traffic, much lower cost of living. And when I am 139 years old, I can be a greeter getting paid $15/hr. - Anon - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:49 pm: No Hankster, my point is that businesses want to make a certain profit and will cut cost to achieve that level. I’m not saying they’re right, but cutting excess labor will be the first and easiest step. - HANKSTER - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 1:57 pm: Anon, OK thanks, I get what you are saying. My view is that there is more than plenty of evidence that when the minimum wage has been raised there has been no measurable impact on employment. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:02 pm: There are a FEW jobs left in Illinois from Blagojevich-Quinn. Let’s drive the rest of them out! - Larry Mullholland - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:05 pm: ENOUGH ALREADY!! Why would any employee choose the employer’s weak insurance plan? In most instances, employers require a $$ contribution from the employee. The employees can get FREE health care from the STATE OF ILLINOIS and their local hospitals. I have seen this first hand. A business offers a plan. The employee signs up, then chooses down the road to “opt out” because of the co-pay. The workers know full well that if they get injured or sick they can simply walk into ANY E.R. for treatment! The hospitals will turn it in for some type of government reimbursement, then try to collect what they can and then write off the rest. But the liberals blame the business man….. The fact is it will only cost the consumer, not the employers. The costs will be passed down. The government should not mandate a high wage. What incentive do these low level workers have? Find me ANY worker who show up on time, works hard and is never a no call/no show and I can assure you this person is worth and will be paid far more that what the government demands they be paid!!!!!!!………..I am tired of it! Almost every where a new Walmart goes in, there is a significant business and tax base boom in the immediate area! Why is that so bad? - Grocery Guy - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:07 pm: In Santa Fe, NM which has a living wage of over $9.00 per hour — Wal-Mart is seeking to expand into a Supercenter. These Big Box guys can afford it — they just don’t want to pay for it. - Garp - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:08 pm: Go Pat! Go Pat! You da one! Go Pat! Go Pat! - Common Sense in Illinois - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:16 pm: Rich: There are reports that Springfield Police have been called to the CMS Department in Springfield. Appartently an employee has brought a gun into the building. - Common Sense in Illinois - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:17 pm: Make that State Police, SOS Police and others. - Cal Skinner - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:27 pm: So, does anyone but I remember when the SOS policeman shot a suit case found unattended at the Stratton Building? Who was that officer and what is he doing now? - Political Insider - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:34 pm: In every town and state that has passed a living wage law the big box retailers as well as the rest of the retail community have seen increased sales and profits. The minimum wage is a joke. Also, if you look at big box vs mom-and-pop there is a higher level of management/supervisor wage and an overall higher wage per employee at the mom-and-pop stores. Will Wal-Mart, Target, Schnucks, Albertsons and others leave the state? NO The reason that they will wait until after the election is that the republicans have convinced America that higher wages mean less jobs and a poorer economy. This is a false statement, and has been proven as such time after time. It’s just that the facts don’t fir into a simple sound bite, and therefore are not “popular”. If you don’t belive me, just do a bit of digging and find the actual results for yourself. (No cheating by going to the US Chamber of Commerce site, they are opposed to any regulation on any biz) As far as finding a good employee goes.. After years in management, I can assure you that treating your employees well will keep them coming into work. Pay them a decent wage, and don’t try to screw them on their insurance, and you will have a hugely loyal workforce. Just stop into any Costco and see for yourself. (they already pay their employees a living wage and give real bennifits. They also have the lowest employee turn-over of any Big-Box retailer) - Common Sense in Illinois - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:45 pm: Cal: The officer was Robert Howlette, and wasn’t the suitcase yours? - Ivory-billed woodpecker - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:51 pm: Larry M., Excellent explanation for why we need a single payer, national health insurance system. Somebody really ought to do something. - Lovie's Leather - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:55 pm: “My view is that there is more than plenty of evidence that when the minimum wage has been raised there has been no measurable impact on employment.” You are right, there has been no measurable impact on employment. But it has screwed over people that have been in jobs for 5 years. I have been saying this on this blog for a year now! I started my job at $5.15/hour. 5 years later I make almost $7/ hour (part-time). My pay got docked when my employer had to start paying new people $6.50 instead of $5.15. Minimum wage raises make the poor with experience poorer. Thanks Rod, for docking my pay and raising the pay of the newbies. What a joke…. - Establishment Republican - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 3:11 pm: Is Quinn considering a run for Mayor? - Capitalista - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 3:24 pm: Well, Political Insider, at least part of your post is true, the minimum wage is a joke. That being said, the idea of higher wages driving down employment is consistent with the vast majority of economic theory, all else being equal. In some cases, employment may not go down visibly after a ‘living wage’ is enacted, but another aspect of the business suffers. This is because standard economic theory dictates that (all else being equal) as wages increase, the overall costs of doing business increase. This forces businesses to either lose money or save money in another way. While a business may not fire workers, they may purchase fewer goods to sell, reduce maintenance on their property, etc. It is a fact, when a wage floor is put into place, businesses will seek to work around it, in one way or another. - Walking Wounded - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 3:50 pm: Cal, Common Sense is correct-it was Howlett, son/heir to the SOS Michael Howlett. Robert was later annointed the director of SOS Police and is now pulling down a fine retirement. Feel safer now? - Levois - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 4:18 pm: This is bad news. - Patrick McDonough - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 5:29 pm: Another man works for the Government. Wow I was wongering were they all went, to the ladies room? - red - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:05 pm: About time, I say. - ZC - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:15 pm: When exactly did liberals become fans of employer-provided health insurance? Isn’t part of the whole liberal mission ultimately to get the government paying more for the health care business, and private corporations less? That’s my hope, anyways. - Out of 1 Pocket into Someone Elses - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:30 pm: I you think that businesses such as WalMart and the other big box stores are going to absorb to “live wage”, please think again. Walmart will just increase its prices to pay the increased wages. That means that you and I will be paying for the “living wage”. Just add it onto the inflation rates. Pretty soon, it will be less expensive to go to the local store rather than the big box. - Anon - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 9:37 pm: Good idea Pat. You got my vote. - Reformed - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 10:03 pm: I can’t wait for Pat to be Governor after Rod wins in November and then is convicted. Finally a true progressive at the helm……. - taxmandan - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 10:08 pm: This whole “big box” thing has gotten ridiculous. Either raise the minimum wage for the entire state or drop it. Of course its easy to bash “Big Box Corporations” they don’t vote! I am pretty curious as to why any lawmaker would pass a law that contains so many loop holes. Is a law targeting “big box” retailers a serious proposal, or is it a political statement only, meaning they will pass it even though they know it will be bounced out of court? If the answer is yes, then Democrats who support this get a political win, even though they know the law has no chance of surviving judicial scrutiny. They can still say, “we tried” and at the same time not jeopardize Illinois commerce. Keep in mind when debating laws such as this, the following quote from my favorite US president: “Government is never more dangerous then when our desire to have it help us, blinds us to it’s great power to harm us.” Ronald Reagan July 17, 1980. The bottom line is, be careful about trading big box for big government. - Carlos - Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:23 pm: Capitalista said: “This is because standard economic theory dictates that (all else being equal)” When in the real world is “all else” equal? And what is the “vast majority” of economic theory? Like the number of pages, studies, or economists or what? Sources would be nice (like a review of the literature or survey of economists). - North of I-80 - Wednesday, Aug 16, 06 @ 4:10 am: If raising the minimum wage is such a good thing and $10 per hour [or $13 w/benefits] “living wage” is such a good thing, then why not $15 per hour? Following the logic, $30 per hour would be a better “living wage”. And $10 per toll booth would be a better “living toll” for the toll authority… and raising the fuel tax to $10 per gallon would make for a better “living tax” for the IL General Fund… right? - Ben - Wednesday, Aug 16, 06 @ 8:54 am: See the editorial in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.