Fresh off a victory at Chicago’s City Hall, proponents of eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers have their eyes set on Springfield. A bill set to be introduced in the General Assembly next week by state Rep. Elisabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and supported by the One Fair Wage group, would go a step further and eliminate the tipped wage statewide by Jan. 1, 2025, effectively forcing restaurants across Illinois to pay their workers a higher minimum hourly rate than Chicago restaurants by next year.

Glen Ellyn Village President Mark Senak said of his town declining a grant to house migrants, “We have to deal with the impact that this would have on our schools, and as I understand it right now the migrants don’t have work permits that would allow them to be gainfully employed. So, there were a lot of holes in that plan, and until I get some answers to those questions, I’m not going to commit my village to that effort.”