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The governor first proposed increasing the minimum wage earlier this
year and has consistently championed the issue.
Senate Bill 1268 is co-sponsored by Reps. Marlow Colvin,
D-Chicago; Larry McKeon, D-Chicago; Louis Lang, D-Skokie; Cynthia
Soto, D-Chicago; and Deborah Graham, D-Chicago. Fulfilling the
governor's goal of providing annual increases, the legislation will
include annual increases in the minimum wage to $7.75 in July 2008,
$8 in July 2009 and $8.25 in 2010. If passed, the legislation will
go into effect July 1, 2007.
"A person who works hard all day should at least earn enough
money to live on," Blagojevich said. "But if you work 40 hours a
week, 52 weeks a year and earn the minimum wage, you make just over
$13,000. That's just not enough. Raising the minimum wage means more
than $2,000 a year in extra wages for nearly 650,000 people. Every
so often, we get the chance to do something that directly and
tangibly makes people's lives better. This is one of those issues,
and I applaud the House of Representatives for passing this bill."
"This bill will ensure that working families in Illinois are able
to keep up with cost of living increases, and I am thankful my
colleagues in the House took this swift action," said Colvin,
sponsor of the legislation.
"For millions for families throughout the state, making ends meet
is becoming more and more difficult as costs for things like
groceries increase," said McKeon, chairman of the House Labor
Committee and a chief co-sponsor of the legislation. "With this
bill, people earning the minimum wage will see their pay increase
not once, but annually."
Last month, when they first announced the proposed minimum wage
bill, 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. The governor and mayor
have vowed to push for the bill's passage during the fall veto
session so that Illinois citizens who need support the most will
benefit and be able to better support themselves and their families.
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 "I would urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this
important bill that will help millions of Illinois parents provide
for their children," said Lang, a chief co-sponsor of the
legislation. "Increasing the minimum wage over time just makes
sense."
"So many hardworking people in Illinois are living paycheck to
paycheck, struggling to make ends meet with the current minimum
wage," said Soto, a chief co-sponsor of the legislation. "The House
of Representatives recognizes the importance of ensuring that
parents need not choose between providing food or paying bills."
"This bill will make life better for thousands of working people
by helping them keep up with cost of living increases," said Graham,
a chief co-sponsor of the legislation. "I would urge the Senate to
pass this important bill."
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 only a total of $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.
Despite predictions from opponents of the minimum wage that its
increase would harm the economy, since the higher wage took effect,
Illinois has added more than 152,000 new jobs since January 2004,
which is more than any 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, and has been named by Site Selection
magazine as the third-best state in the nation for attracting new
and expanded corporate facilities. Inc. magazine recently named
Blagojevich as the second-best governor in the nation for fiscal
policy (Blagojevich was also named the top governor for health care
policy). In addition, 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, which is the state's lowest level on
record.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
