Resources

June 23, 2015

My name is Bob Olson and I own Olson & Associates, an insurance agency serving Illinois with offices in Lombard and Springfield. I’m also the State General Agent of American Income Life, which covers more than 2 million policyholders in Illinois and around the nation. Raising the minimum wage is an essential step in insuring a more healthy state economy.

June 23, 2015

My name is Elizabeth Colon, President and Founder of Metaphrasis Language & Cultural Solutions and recipient of the 2014 Illinois Small Business Person of the Year award by the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA). I was also named 2015 Business Owner of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners (Chicago).

National executive committee member of the Main Street Alliance small business network and member of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
June 23, 2015

My name is David Borris and I own a 30-year-old catering business with a full-time staff of 31 people and over 90 part-time and seasonal employees. I pay a starting wage of $11.00 an hour – well above the current Illinois minimum wage of $8.25. And my business is thriving.

Paying good wages is part of my recipe for success. Raising the minimum wage is smart policy for Illinois.

61% of small business owners with employees support raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour and adjusting it to keep up with the cost of living in future years, according to a scientific national opinion poll.

Two out of three small business owners (67%) support increasing the federal minimum wage and adjusting it yearly to keep up with the cost of living. The strong support for a minimum wage raise is particularly striking since the small business owners are predominately Republican. The poll was conducted March 4-10, 2013 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on behalf of Small Business Majority. The minimum wage, now $7.25 an hour, was last increased in 2009.

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Full Committee Hearing, March 14, 2013
Keeping up with a Changing Economy: Indexing the Minimum Wage
Statement of Lew Prince, Co-Owner and CEO of Vintage Vinyl

Testimony PDF

Testimony of Margot Dorfman, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce

on House Bill 1204 “Labor and Employment - Maryland Wage and Hour Law - Payment of Wages”
before the House Economic Matters Committee, Maryland General Assembly, February 27, 2013

Background

Maryland’s minimum wage is currently just $7.25 per hour, or $15,080 per year for a full-time worker.

Quinnipiac University Poll: Voters Back Minimum Wage 5-1, January 31, 2013

New York State voters support 80 - 17 percent raising the state's minimum wage. Support is 61 - 35 percent among Republicans, 95 - 3 percent among Democrats and 77 - 22 percent among independent voters. Support in every income, age, educational and regional group tops 70 percent.

Read Poll Report

Excerpt: "The business owners with whom I talk every day believe that ... raising the minimum wage in fact helps small businesses. ... While some try to portray a minimum wage increase as a fight between business and workers, raising the minimum wage is in reality good for both."