Illinois’s senior Sen. Dick Durbin is urging Illinois lawmakers to raise the state’s minimum wage:
(AP) — Raising Illinois’ minimum wage and a Republican gubernatorial candidate’s changing stance on the issue were the main topics of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s speech at an annual breakfast honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Durbin told attendees Friday he’s working with Illinois lawmakers to raise the state’s $8.25 hourly rate. Pushing for an increase is a Democratic strategy nationwide.
Durbin then blasted Republican Bruce Rauner for being “out of touch” on the issue. Rauner said he’d advocate for lowering Illinois’ rate to the national $7.25-per-hour. Then said he’d support raising it under certain circumstances.
The topic has been prominent in the gubernatorial primary. The three other Republicans running in the race oppose an increase. They are state Treasurer Dan Rutherford and state Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard.
Despite my tentative support for a cautious increase in the national minimum wage, I think that raising Illinois’s minimum wage would be foolhardy. Political posturing masquerading as concern.
Illinois already has a higher state minimum wage than any of the states that surround it. All but Missouri have the national minimum wage. Missouri’s state minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.
Many of Illinois largest population centers are adjacent to other states. Chicago is adjacent to Wisconsin and Indiana. East St. Louis is adjacent to Missouri. Rockford and Moline are adjacent to Iowa. All of those states are mobilized to attract businesses away from Illinois and have been successful in doing so, largely on the basis of Illinois’s taxes and higher minimum wage. Illinois already has a higher unemployment rate than any state other than Michigan, Nevada, and Rhode Island. And a worse fiscal position than any of them. Illinois simply can’t afford to drive more businesses out-of-state.
If Illinois’s politicians were really concerned about the working poor in Illinois, they’d be devoting their attentions to improving the state’s fiscal situation and creating more jobs in Illinois. Raise the minimum wage at the national level but not on the state level.
