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Minimum wage hike roundup

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Illinois

* I went over this with subscribers today, so we’ll just do a roundup. Here’s the AP…

Business advocates now resigned to the likelihood that Illinois will soon adopt a $15-an-hour minimum wage urged legislators Wednesday to make it a tiered approach based on geography, arguing there are vast cost-of-living differences between Chicago and more rural areas downstate.

While Illinois’ statewide minimum wage has remained at $8.25 an hour since 2010, Chicago has jumped ahead, with the minimum wage there going to $13 this year .

Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told the Senate Labor Committee that the nation’s third-largest city shouldn’t set the wage floor for everywhere else in the state. […]

New Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who campaigned on the issue last fall, wants to sign the proposal into law before he lays out an annual budget to the General Assembly on Feb. 23, Lightford said.

The budget address is actually scheduled for February 20th, less than three weeks from today.

* Prairie State Wire…

“We believe the market should determine wages,” [Todd Maisch, Illinois Chamber president and CEO] said. “For example, $15 an hour in the Chicago market may make sense, while $15 an hour in Cairo, Illinois, does not.”

Other marker factors also should be considered, Maisch said.

“Regional market wages should be considered along with additional options for seasonal, teen and training wages,” he said.

Teen and training wages are in the proposal they’re working on.

* Illinois News Network…

Some legislators want to know if Illinois can mandate different minimums based on geographic boundaries.

“There’s a huge discrepancy regionally about how much money is needed in order to live a higher quality of life,” said state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora. […]

Assistant Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, will likely sponsor legislation that would increase the state’s minimum wage. She said she was open to the idea of regional minimum wages, but said there could be constitutional issues with that concept.

“It’s challenging because there are some constitutionalities that go along with a flat minimum wage,” she said. “That’s something that I know our lawyers are checking into.”

I don’t think the regional wage is gonna fly.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Lightford said rate increases would be phased in, and the $15 rate would not take effect until at least 2025, although an exact timeframe for the increase is not yet defined.

Business representatives at the committee preferred a longer-term rollout. Lobbyist Mike Noonan, representing the Illinois Restaurant Association, said his industry would be OK with a seven-year rollout — $1 each year for the first six, then 75 cents the final year.

Worker rights advocates, such as Greg Kelly of the Service Employees International Union, preferred a more timely increase. He said 41 percent of all workers in Illinois make less than $15 per hour, and more of those workers are in their 40s, 50s and 60s than are younger than 25.

Kelly added that more women than men make less than $15 per hour, and 48 percent of African Americans and 61 percent of Latinos make less than $15 per hour. He said 52 percent of those making less than $15 per hour work full time, and 15 percent of Illinois working families receive food stamps.

* Finke…

Chris Boyster of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth said more than 12,000 people are employed by the organization’s member agencies. Many of them are working at or near minimum wage, he said.

“These human service organizations will not be able to accommodate an increase in the minimum wage without increased financial support from the state,” he said. “Providers want to pay their workforce better. They just need the means to do so.”

The Illinois Association of Park Districts also said increasing the minimum wage would put pressure on park districts that employ teens as life guards, camp counselors and other jobs that pay the minimum wage. Likewise, the state’s nursing homes that serve large numbers of Medicaid patients would be squeezed between paying higher wages with stagnant Medicaid reimbursements, said Pat Comstock of the Health Care Council of Illinois.

Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have a higher minimum wage than Illinois.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:21 am

Comments

–“We believe the market should determine wages,” [Todd Maisch, Illinois Chamber president and CEO] said.–

Says the guy who just yesterday was quoted here calling for gubmint handouts for new data centers, although the market shows there already is a building boom and the vacancy rate has gone from 2% to 11% in just a year.

Always a laugh riot this one, ever since he pumped money into Dunk’s losing campaign, even though he was one of the chamber’s worst-rated legislators.

Hang in there, Todd.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:38 am
===“There’s a huge discrepancy regionally about how much money is needed in order to live a higher quality of life,” said state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora. […]===

There is no discrepancy regionally as to the practical impact of working in poverty.

Comment by Midstate Indy Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:42 am
== I don’t think the regional wage is gonna fly. ==

OK. I understand the arguments on the one side. It’s going to cost businesses more. But let’s look at the other side.

A higher wage in low cost areas (until costs catch up) could spark a mini-boom for those (mostly depressed) areas. And it might slow down the rural to urban migration that is wage and opportunity driven.

The question, which both sides like to spin, is will an area be better or worse off overall between the increased wages and possibly fewer or reduced hour jobs?

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:48 am
And the minimum wage should be adjusted for inflation

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:50 am
I wonder if trickle up economics would not be good for downstate/rurual areas. Depressed wages means depressed spending. Higher wages mean higher levels of spending. We have tried, wittingly and unwittingly, depressed wages downstae….time to try something else.

Comment by wondering Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:51 am
whether you’re working minimum wage in Chicago or Cairo, it’s not enough. greedy richers can console themselves with the knowledge that they’d still be giving those employees the least possible amount allowed by law.

Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:56 am
I would think that higher wages in Cairo, Illinois would be a good thing. Using an economically depressed area as the place where an increase is not needed is really silly. If you have ever been to Cairo, it is a very hard hit area, and can use all the help it can get. Including higher wages, to help stimulate the areas economy.

Comment by Retired Educator Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:58 am
Missouri voters raised theirs to 12 over time unless their leg changes it. We could match the increases. And it could contain some small business exceptions or tax benfits.

Comment by Not a Billionaire Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 10:59 am
The minimum wage is consistently viewed positively by the public and nearly universally derided by economists.

This will hurt the unemployment rate further, which is already 38 nationally second highest in the Midwest.

I’ll get blowback because this site has jumped the shark, but it’s a bad law that will hurt the people it is intending to help.

Comment by Ole General Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:01 am
One thing I don’t see mentioned is the possibility of an opt-out option on certain benefits. Yes, I know companies do this indirectly by limiting hours
so they don’t have to offer brnefits. But how about formalizing it for a limited category of workers in exchange for $15 wages? (I know this won’t necessarily apply to Walmart workers who already get dumped on the government for most benefits.)

Two big worker categories are seniors and teenagers. In a lot of cases, they do not need health insurance coverage since they are on Medicare or their parent’s policy. Private retirement savings plan participation, especially for seniors, may be another area for opt-out consideration. Or paid vacation time for teenagers; I know some companies do this by not offering it as a benefit until you have been there 4 or 5 years.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:02 am
The minimum wage proposals in 2019 have to contend with three major issues.

1)We could face a national recession in the next 24 months given we haven’t had one in a while. It’s hard to raise the minimum wage during a downturn.

2)Many Illinois residents who don’t have a work experience and/or a high school diploma could be disemployed or not employed because many employers can’t justify paying them higher wages given their marginal productivity.

3)Technology. Notice how many retail places are going to self-check out? Some business owners can/will look to replace workers with technology.

In conclusion, the low wage worker could really be hurt by all of this.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:04 am
–I’ll get blowback because this site has jumped the shark,–

Pre-whining isn’t a good look.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:05 am
I’m not a socialist, but sometimes I think like one. $15 per hour is “bad” to many. Aside from the far more outrageously inflated ‘golden parachutes’, CEO salaries, corporate greed and welfare, I consider this…. Didn’t Henry Ford raise the wages of his workers to the unheard of “$5 per day” and get hammered by fellow titans? I think he said he did it to allow them to afford the very products they were assembling, therefore increase demand. So, maybe raising minimum wage, rather than hell, may eventually help those that currently deride it. I May be wrong. Maybe Not.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:07 am
I’ll never understand the folks who say “I don’t even make $15 an hour” and yet are still against raising the minimum wage.

Comment by Kayak Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:08 am
Whatever the minimum wage is set at, it should be tied to inflation going forward. This debate comes up every few years, and if we tied minimum wage to inflation the debate would mostly be settled.

Comment by Yup! Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:08 am
A quick check of Senator Lightford’s bio indicates absolutely no business experience. Yet, she will tell all small business people “essentially you don’t know what you are talking about and we know better than you.”

Ah, okay Senator. Ever made a payroll?

Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:10 am
Another aspect to consider:
Child care centers who have a high enrollment of families enrolled in the IDHS Child Care Assistance Program cannot raise rates to fund a $15 min. wage increase. In fact, there has only been about a 6% raise in CCAP rates over the last 10 years. Southern IL has lost 42 centers since 2015 and they continue to struggle because they receive the lowest reimbursement rate in the state. That coupled with staffing issues makes the implementation of a $15 minimum wage the straw that will break the camel’s back.

Comment by jillbugg Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:11 am
- Kayak -

The demand for labor is always a downward sloping curve. If you make illegal for people to work for less than $14 an hour many low skilled workers without a work history are going to be out of a job. Business isn’t charity.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:12 am
Many places of work such as warehousing that pay below 15 will simply leave the state if this happens. I know of many who pay below 15. Good luck paying those pensions soon.

Comment by Don Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:13 am
— I’ll never understand the folks who say “I don’t even make $15 an hour” and yet are still against raising the minimum wage. —

Maybe they understand economics and want to keep their jobs.

Comment by Cornfed Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:14 am
Kayak - raising the minimum wage above what they’re getting now would make them “minimum wage workers,” and they don’t want that label. the way it is now, at least there’s someone making less than them that they can look down on. It’s an ugly mindset but there are a lot of people who would take food off their own plate as long as it also takes food off of someone else’s.

Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:15 am
==the way it is now, at least there’s someone making less than them that they can look down on.==

That’s probably true, but they don’t realize that if the minimum wage is higher, they’ll have more leverage to negotiate a raise.

Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:22 am
Notice the gloom and doomers who forecast grim things when low-income wage increases are considered, and their lack of tears and outright support of huge tax giveaways to the richest—no concern about debt, deficits and other negative repercussions like the wealthiest heavily investing in themselves and not the wages and benefits of employees.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:29 am
What do you tell an emt who’s make $15/hour

If you raise the burger flipper to $15 hour how do you reconcile that with other jobs that actually require an education to perform

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:37 am
The wages needed for low skill work is now 10 or 11 in rural downstate. I know a high skilled older worker at 15 who gets picked up by the boss when his battery failed. Population and jobs are matching. I bet Chicago area could go to 15 now. It will take a few years downstate not so much inflation but decline in working age population. I would also note younger workers do not care about jobs pestige. They will take the 11 at fast over over the harder 12 temp job in manufacturing. Rational like the right wing economists always say. Exception that proves rule.

Comment by Not a Billionaire Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:39 am
I guess time will tell what the impact will be. I tend to think it will be a net gain zero. Some will obviously benefit due to larger paychecks. There will be some out migration and jobs lost. These will be the losers.

I wish I could buy into the sincerity of the higher minimum wage crowd, but I have seen it with my own eyes, that most consumers only care about their own pocketbooks. Most of you all will seek the cheapest product and services. Where ever you can find them.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:39 am
Randomly rising min wage. Reduces the value of other jobs

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:42 am
This was my favorite part of the hearing, from the Southern Illinoisan’s story on the matter:

State Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, asked how many businesses left the state from 2006 to 2010 when the last minimum wage increase occurred, and [NFIB’s] Grant did not have an answer.

“So you’re making a broad statement, but yet you can’t give me any statistical facts that any businesses during the last minimum wage increase left the state or closed shop?”

Comment by BullMoose Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:47 am
Kayak,

If you feel up to reading an academic paper on why those people would be against a minimum wage, this is a good one: https://www.nber.org/papers/w17234 .

Comment by GV Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:47 am
To Anonymous at 11:37…

I’d tell the EMT to organize and bargain for higher wages if they feel they are underpaid. $15 is a MINIMUM. Prove that your education, skills, and value is worth more than the minimum. If you don’t ask (negotiate), the answer is always NO.

Comment by Reese's Pieces Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:49 am
I’m a small busy ness owner and employer. I pay my employees more than current minimum wage but less than $15. If I had to pay $15 I don’t know where that magic money would come from. I’m not getting rich with a big income fed by underpaid workers.
The state of Illinois would see increased income tax revenue with increased mw and that is the true reason the new tax and spend and tax and spend some more governor wants it in ink before he presents a budget.

Comment by Tequila Mockingbird Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:52 am
it only took 22 minutes before Anonymous @11:37 showed up to prove my point.

Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:55 am
— I’ll never understand the folks who say “I don’t even make $15 an hour” and yet are still against raising the minimum wage. —

Maybe they understand economics and want to keep their jobs.–

The federal minimum wage was instituted in 1933, professor. Perhaps you could dazzle with the economics-understanding as to how that’s damaged GDP and job growth all this time.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:57 am
I’ll get blowback because this site has jumped the shark,

The Tribune is forced to close comments and this site has jumped the shark?

Comment by Ole' Nelson Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 11:59 am
It’s not a matter of having someone to look down on
It’s the point that if you went to school and are doing life saving work. You should be worth more than a burger flipper

And I really don’t mean that in a negative way to bigger flippers

Isn’t that the point of our society. Work hard get an education and work yourself up to better and better paying jobs.

Kinda defeats that purpose

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:12 pm
I wonder if keeping businesses that can not pay the $15.00 per hour wage is beneficial. Seems like the less efficient businesses being squeezed out is a mark of capitalism and to society’s benefit. They are a drag on the economy. Subsidies for low wage workers, food stamps, medicaid, necessary for the employees of poorly run companies, is a drain on taxpayers and ultimately a reward for inefficiency. Any good strong conservative knows business is about survival of the fittest.

Comment by wondering Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:12 pm
Given how rare minimum wage increases are let’s lock in that $15 an hour now for every part of the state. Who knows when this opportunity will come again.

And I hate the notion of paying teenagers or seniors less. They are still human beings with the same dignity as other-aged people and their labor is not worth a cent less because of their birthdate.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:15 pm
anonymous, can you read what you just wrote? the entire crux of your argument is looking down on “burger flippers” because you’re “worth more” than them. you can’t stand the thought of someone else - who you look down on - making the same amount as you.

Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:16 pm
Wondering. You just described 3/4 of Illinois’ farming community.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:16 pm
Son works at a place that hires a lot of minimum wage part time workers, but they pay the full time staff more. Whenever minimum wage goes up, they also adjust the full time wages upward also.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:18 pm
==3)Technology. Notice how many retail places are going to self-check out? Some business owners can/will look to replace workers with technology.==

This is something that affects workers of all income levels and skills, not just low wage workers. If anything the technology pays off more if it can bump off a highly paid worker.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:30 pm
When a certain really Yellow big company moved its HQ to near O’Hare, they had to increase salaries for those who moved from Peoria area. There is a higher cost of living in the Chicago area, compared to Central Illinois.
When a business is required to pay a higher minimum wage, they will certainly look at cutting staff or increasing productivity thru other means.

Comment by TazewellTazzy Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:31 pm
Make it 10.00 this year and index it to inflation. And let’s not have this political football anymore.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:37 pm
== . If anything the technology pays off more if it can bump off a highly paid worker. ==

Or 3 shifts of a low paid one.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:40 pm
As human service community-based organizations, we want our workforce to earn a livable wage. They do important, even life-saving, work and deserve to be paid appropriately.

The budget impasse occurred after years of flat or cut budgets for state-funded human services. In some cases, providers have had no meaningful rate increases or increases to grant-funded programs in this century, while costs have risen in all areas of business, including health care, liability insurance, utilities, transportation, food, and facilities.

Human service organizations will not be able to accommodate an increased wage and its ripple effects of higher wages for supervisors and increased benefit costs without increased financial support from the State in the form of rate or grant funding increases.

Human service organizations have no ability to cost shift. The state is already woefully behind in keeping up with increased costs. We simply cannot absorb a wage increase without state support increases to meet those demands.

An increase in the minimum wage that is phased in over time, needs to have a parallel, tandem process in place for corresponding rate and grant increases over time to allow providers to meet these new requirements. The budget process needs to be structured to simultaneously accommodate both the rising wages and the rising rates and grants.

Comment by Andrea Durbin Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:42 pm
Think about what you just posted RNUG. The place hires a lot of minimum wage part time workers.

Why is that?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:43 pm
Jill bugg the reimbursement rate is per child. for my example we will use preschoolers over the age of 3. a single employee can care for 10 preschool kids. the lowest rate is 24.78 for a lic provider. thats 247.80 to care for 10 kids for 8 hrs. a salary of 15 an hr costs 120. so the owner gets more then twice the salary.

dont see this as a crisis or unfair.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 12:57 pm
Homer
There should be a value to the type of work you are doing
You don’t see a problem with someone who at minimum. Possibly not even having a high school diploma

Making the same as someone with a college degree

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:00 pm
Left out the question above

You don’t see a problem with ?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:01 pm
“Homer There should be a value to the type of work you are doing.”

If the employer values it why is he paying so little?

“You don’t see a problem with someone who at minimum. Possibly not even having a high school diploma making the same as someone with a college degree?”

Ask your friendly neighborhood adjunct professor.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:08 pm
It’s incredible the number of people who want to tear others down and say “You’re not as good as me, you don’t deserve X amount of money.”

The other argument, that businesses are either too greedy or too budget strapped to pay a decent wage at least has merit on the surface, but really, some of you don’t think everyone should make a decent wage for full time work?

Comment by Perrid Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:20 pm
$31,200 yr TO START any job is too high. MINIMUM wage is supposed to be the lowest pay and you work your way up with raises and good work. $15 is going to cripple the non-big corporate businesses almost doubling their labor costs ($8.25). I am for an increase to $10 then relate to inflation.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:21 pm
This was what was done in New York. At least something to look at with perhaps differences between Chicago, Suburbrs and rest of State.

As part of the 2016-17 State Budget, Governor Cuomo signed legislation enacting a statewide $15 minimum wage plan that will lift the earnings of more than 2.1 million New Yorkers, in all industries across the state. The Governor’s plan takes the needs of workers and businesses alike into account.

As of December 31, 2016, the first in a series of wage increases will go into effect. Rates will differ based on region and industry because the increases are calibrated to provide businesses ample time to adjust.

General Minimum Wage Rate Schedule

Location

12/31/16

12/31/17

12/31/18

12/31/19

12/31/20

2021*

NYC - Big Employers (of 11 or more) $11.00 $13.00 $15.00
NYC - Small Employers (10 or less) $10.50 $12.00 $13.50 $15.00
Long Island & Westchester $10.00 $11.00 $12.00 $13.00 $14.00 $15.00
Remainder of New York State Workers $9.70 $10.40 $11.10 $11.80 $12.50 *

* Annual increases for the rest of the state will continue until the rate reaches $15

Comment by Nonbeleiver Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:23 pm
ECON101 wordslinger. I’m sure you can find supply and demand somewhere on the google.

Comment by Cornfed Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:30 pm
“Didn’t Henry Ford raise the wages of his workers to the unheard of “$5 per day” ….”

Ford was trying to sell something costing $500 in an economy with a per capita income of around $350. He wasn’t Aunt Mary’s Pancake House pushing a $5.00 breakfast in an economy with a per capita income of $32,924 (in 2017).

Comment by CapnCrunch Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:33 pm
===ECON101===

That course has destroyed more minds than anything else in human history.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:37 pm
and here I thought Art History destroyed a ton of college minds

Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:43 pm
Human service organizations are paid with Medicaid dollars with rates established by and paid by the state. Those rates have not changed in over 10 years and providers have to accept the state rates. Direct service providers, personal care assistants, and home care workers might make $10-$11 an hour. Would their new wages move to $17-$18 or will they be back to a new minimum wage at $15? At $15 they will probably not qualify for Medicaid so employer health insurance costs role into this mix. How many $100s of million dollars will the state have to come up with each year to cover these changes? The detailed ripple effects of this are huge at many levels.

Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 1:45 pm
“You don’t see a problem with someone who at minimum. Possibly not even having a hiqgh school diploma Making the same as someone with a college degree”

No I do not, and the fact that you do marks you as one of the small people I originally posted about. Everyone in the working class is, economically, my brother and an increase in their quality of life will eventually benefit me as well.

Comment by Homer J. Quinn Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 2:10 pm
@zatoichi. It would be more correct to say that some human service providers have some services paid by Medicaid dollars… Other providers and other services are paid for through a variety of contracts and grants, most of which also have not changed in many years. Although you are correct about the ripple effects.

@RUNG, I am confused about the benefits issue for teens and seniors. I have both young people (under 26) and senior citizens on my payroll. Both groups have declined health insurance through us because they get it through Medicare or their parents’ insurance. It ends up being a net benefit to me, because I am not paying for the premiums for those individuals. Why would I as the employer need consideration around these populations if they already are saving me money? This is a serious question, not a sarcastic one.

Comment by Andrea Durbin Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 2:21 pm
The concept of “every child gets a trophy,” applies here.

Higher wages motivates humans to do better. Those that are trying to get young people to reach for the stars just lost that battle with 95% of them.

Also, can we see some reporting on what a mandated exponential increase in wage has done in other cities. I have not read a single positive report.

Comment by cdog Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 2:22 pm
Yesterday someone referred to Illinois as the ‘Venezuela of the Midwest’. Maybe there is some truth to that. In November, Venezuela raised their min wage for the sixth time. In 2018.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 2:26 pm
Ghost: You forget about all the overhead a child care center has: food costs, property taxes, payroll taxes, classroom equipment, consumables, administrator payroll, utilities, telephone, liability and building insurance, training costs, and many more.

Comment by jillbugg Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 2:34 pm
Homer I’m not begrudging someone to make more money
But other jobs/careers should be adjusted up accordingly also
Otherwise this is teetering on socialism

Where is the incentive

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 3:08 pm
–The concept of “every child gets a trophy,” applies here.–

That’s the funniest one yet.

BTW, participation trophies are for the parents, not the kids. From my experience, most kids could not care less, and wish the parents would just leave them alone to do their thing.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 3:29 pm
–ECON101 wordslinger.–

I bet you can’t wait for Day 2 of class.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 3:30 pm
Questions to be addressed first If this $15.00 per hour passes:
1. How many will be pushed above the current limits to receive any entitlement benefits? Look at Washington State last year when the people effected by the increase actually lost because they no longer got free health care, subsidies for rent, utilities, food, etc.
2. Do many of the trades still have in their contracts that they must be paid X above the minumin wage? If so what will be the additional cost to the city, county, and state budgets to account for that?
3. If 1 and 2 are correct than those not covered will also want a increase since most have some education/skills than the current thereby pushing them up as no-one wants to loose earning status.
So it looks like the fence post will be moved for all, cost will go up and those at minumin wage will still be at the bottom

Comment by Ejjp Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:00 pm
== Think about what you just posted RNUG. The place hires a lot of minimum wage part time workers.

Why is that? ==

It’s a corporate owned restaurant (not fast food). The standard model for those is lots of part time help, except for management and key kitchen staff, both of which are full time with benefits.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:02 pm
A lot of businesses rely on paying employees low wages while seeking to maximize profits and then, especially the case with franchises or large corporate brands, those profits don’t remain in the community.

While I understand that the idea of one’s labor costs doubling is stressful, if it is impossible for the business to be successful going forward paying poverty wages the their business probably wasn’t competitive in the market to begin with.

Plus, in some of our most impoverished areas this would represent a significant boon to the economy, and in a lot of regions many employers have already been required to start offering above the minimum wage to attract and retain applicants, so this will just speed up the process of employers being astonished that they can’t find anyone to clean bathrooms for $7.25 realizing they need to pay more.

It should be interesting, though, to watch downstate electeds argue that their constituents deserve to be paid less than folks living in Chicago.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:10 pm
Anyone who think a minimum wage the same as Chicago’s is going to help Cairo is truly lost. It will discourage businesses from operating there.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:26 pm
If there are any businesses in Cairo to begin with.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:30 pm
Downstates cost of living is lower. Why do you think people are paid less in Chicago than NYC?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 4:31 pm
Im someone that i work 40 hrs a week…my husband also works 40 hrs a week. We make about $35,000 a yr before taxes taken out.by the time we get done with bills every month we cant even afford health ins..i have 3 heart problems. Asthma. And back problems and ptsd that require meds. My meds r 500 a mo..if i get ins for just me its 360 a mo plus i gotta pay 6000 before ins covers anything then even have to pay 30% of any doc bills…make too much for public aid but i make too little for ins. If min wage increased id b able to pay for ins. Pay for deductable. Pay to stay alive. People are seeing this as a compinies are going to suffer..im already suffering. Stressed on how much more my body can take. Wondering if im goin to have heart failure from not taking my blood thinners. Something has to be done.

Comment by Patty l Thursday, Jan 31, 19 @ 6:30 pm
If a student worker employed by the state is paid according to where they live,should legislators also be paid according to the where they live?

Comment by cc Friday, Feb 1, 19 @ 4:16 am
“teetering on socialism”

You want to know what is actual socialism? Low wages.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/we-are-spending-153-billion-a-year-to-subsidize-mcdonalds-and-walmarts-low-wage-workers/

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 1, 19 @ 7:22 am
“Starvation Wages” are good: Unless you are on the receiving end.

Comment by Question More Friday, Feb 1, 19 @ 8:00 am
Do great work wherever you are, improve your skills, take online classes and find a mentor. You do those things and you won’t be earning minimum wage for long.

You know why? Because most people don’t do the things I’ve listed and you will stand out.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 1, 19 @ 10:23 am