|
Under the terms of the proposal, the state's minimum wage would rise
by $1 per hour to $7.50 per hour beginning July 1, 2007. Starting in
January 2008, the minimum wage would be indexed to inflation to
provide an annual wage adjustment in order to help workers' wages
keep up with rising prices. Up to 647,000 Illinois workers are
expected to benefit from the minimum wage increase. In addition,
269,000 children who are supported by minimum wage earners are
expected to benefit.
"The people of Illinois sent their leaders a clear mandate last
Tuesday: focus on doing things that help working people,"
Blagojevich said. "That's what we're going to do for the next four
years, starting with a raise in the minimum wage. Clearly, members
of the Senate Labor Committee share that goal, and I applaud them
for quickly moving forward with the minimum wage increase. I hope
the full Senate and House will do their part as well."
"A job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it," said
Lightford. "Hardworking men and women across this state who need a
higher minimum wage to make ends meet, need a cost of living
increase every year. Work should be valued and rewarded; it is the
right thing to do."
Last month when they announced plans to push for the minimum wage
increase during the fall veto session, Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor
Richard M. Daley were joined by members of the Illinois General
Assembly, labor leaders and other leaders in the fight for working
families.
Blagojevich fought for and signed legislation raising the minimum
wage in 2003 from the federal level of $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an
hour (the federal minimum wage remains at $5.15). While that
difference meant an additional $1.35 an hour, or an extra $2,808 a
year for a full-time worker, earning the minimum wage still means
earning a total of only $13,520 a year. That means the current
minimum wage annual salary represents only 67.6 percent of the 2006
federal poverty level for a family of four ($20,000) and is just
above the threshold for a single parent with one child ($13,200).
The increase to $7.50 an hour will result in a pre-tax gross income
of $15,600, an additional $2,080.
[to top of second column] |
 By 2007, 10 states will have automatic cost of living adjustments
in place, tied to inflation. And, on Nov. 7, voters in Arizona,
Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio approved minimum wage
increases that contain automatic annual cost of living adjustments.
Despite predictions from opponents of the minimum wage that its
increase would harm the economy, Illinois has added more than
151,000 new jobs since the higher wage took effect in January 2004,
which is more than any other state in the Midwest, according to the
Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois has led the nation in
job growth twice this year, April and July, which has never happened
before in recorded history.
Site Selection magazine named Illinois the third best-state in
the nation for attracting new and expanded corporate facilities, and
Inc. magazine recently named Blagojevich as the second-best governor
in the nation for fiscal policy (he was also named the top governor
for health care policy).
The unemployment rate has fallen from 6.7 percent in January
2003, when the fight for the higher minimum wage began, to 4.1
percent today. This rate was the lowest reported since March 1999
and tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the official Illinois
series, dating back to January 1976.
[News release from the governor's
office]
 |
