By Michael J. Bologna
Bloomberg BNA, August 28, 2017

Illinois business groups are breathing a sigh of relief after Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) Aug. 25 vetoed a measure to boost the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. ... But Illinois isn’t keeping pace with other states, despite its large constituency of top tier employers, according to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of business owners that support raising the federal minimum wage. Twenty one states and the District of Columbia have a higher minimum wage than Illinois, according to the State Law Chart Builders on Bloomberg Law’s Labor & Employment Practice Center.

‘‘Right now Illinois is really lagging,’’ Holly Sklar, founder and chief executive of BFMW, told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 28. ‘‘If you look at MIT’s living wage calculator the living wage is nearly $12 per hour—$11.72—just for a single adult (in Illinois), no children.’’  ...

[A] higher minimum wage would improve economic conditions across the state, Dan Sherry, a BFMW member and owner of Kennedy’s Creative Awards Co. in Waukegan, Ill., told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 28. Higher wages tend to stabilize employment and trigger high degrees of economic output, he said.

‘‘When you give someone on the bottom rung of the ladder an extra few dollars, its going to go right back into the economy,’’ Sherry said. ‘‘... So a higher minimum wage is disposable income for these people and it will go back into the economy.’’ 

Copyright 2017 Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.