Nov. 20--SPRINGFIELD -- Senate Democrats on Wednesday began advancing a measure to raise the state's minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2017, though doubts remain about whether lawmakers can muster enough votes to pass an increase before Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner in sworn into office in January.
Under the latest proposal, the state's $8.25-an-hour wage would jump to $10 on July 1, 2015. It would bump up to $10.50 a year later before reaching $11 an hour on July 1, 2017. Teens and new employees in training would earn 50 cents an hour less, while workers who receive tips would be paid 60 percent of the minimum wage.
The measure received initial approval from a key Senate panel on a 10-3 vote, though sponsoring Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, indicated changes may be in the works. The legislation is unlikely to come to a floor vote in the Senate this week as backers in the House say they're working to build enough support following push back from business interests.
Democrats made increasing the minimum wage a cornerstone of their fall campaigns, even putting an advisory question on the ballot asking whether the state should hike the wage to $10 an hour by Jan. 1. The referendum received overwhelming support, which supporters are using to buttress their arguments in favor of an increase. Opponents contend such a large jump in the wage would hurt businesses and hamper job growth as employers struggle to cover the additional costs.
The issue presents an opportunity for outgoing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to score one more victory or face a final stinging defeat as he pushes lawmakers to raise the wage before Rauner takes over the helm of state government on Jan. 12. Rauner has called on lawmakers to defer major action until then, saying he supports an increase in the minimum wage but only if accompanied by business-friendly measures such as changes to the state's workers compensation system.
"Raising the wage is about dignity and decency and building an economy that works for everyone," Quinn said in a statement after the bill passed committee. "Now is the time to get this important legislation passed through the General Assembly for the hundreds of thousands of minimum wage workers across the Land of Lincoln."
Lightford said she's confident the measure would pass the Senate, but acknowledged it'll have a tougher time in the House where Democrats have a large-but-narrower margin and lawmakers tend to be more conservative. Delaying the minimum wage hike until July is aimed at making it easier to pass the bill during the legislature's fall session, where bills with an immediate effective date have to obtain 3/5ths support instead of a simple majority.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said she's hopeful but not confident enough votes could be rounded up in her chamber.
"I'm sure it would have a chance," Currie said. "But I don't have the impression that we've got votes coming out of our ears."
Business groups say they'll continue to fight the measure, as lawmakers are scheduled to return to Springfield in early December and also could come back for last-minute, lame-duck action in early January before a new crop of legislators is sworn in.
"That's a huge jump for small business owners to absorb," said Kim Clarke Maisch, Illinois state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. "Going all the way to $11 would again push Illinois toward having one of the highest minimum wages in the country at a time when our neighboring states are mostly at the federal rate. We believe strongly that this puts Illinois small business owners at a competitive disadvantage."
Lightford argues Illinois workers have been paid too little for years, and said businesses with fewer than four employees would only be required to pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
"The business community has had years of relief," Lightford said. "I think it's just that they don't want to do it because they don't have to do it."
In other action Wednesday:
*The sponsor of a measure that would put in place regulations on ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft said he'll wait before attempting to override Quinn's veto. A spokesman for Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, said the legislator is attempting to work out a deal "that both sides can live with."
Both Quinn and Rauner opposed the measure as ride-sharing companies argued the measure was so restrictive it could put them out of business. They're pushing for rules to be put in place at the local level, pointing to a recent ordinance passed by Chicago.
*The House sent the Senate legislation that would give the attorney general the ability to go to court to stop future cases in which a pension is being paid to a convicted public official even if a retirement board approved it.
The bill is inspired by disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, who did not lose his $4,000-a-month pension despite costing the city tens of millions in legal costs because of torture and abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. The measure would not impact Burge's pension. Burge was sentenced to 4 1/2 half years in federal prison for his 2010 conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.
*House lawmakers rejected the governor's veto of legislation he said would reduce government transparency, instead siding with local officials who say it'll provide relief from people who abuse the open records process.
The measure would set parameters for those seeking voluminous requests through the Freedom of Information Act. The House overrode Quinn's veto 76-36, and it now heads to the Senate.
