Illinois will be one of 10 states with a minimum wage of $15 or greater, according to the National Employment Law Project. Twenty-two other states are also increasing their wages on Jan. 1. Illinois Lawmakers Thumb Noses at Constitution to Impose New Taxes – Wirepoints
June 9, 2026
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A mess of uncertainty and litigation is sure to follow.
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With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
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Is JB the Hutt even aware that Ice Cream shops are paying their scooping staff more than his minimum wage already? With zero business acumen and a big fat trust fund, the Hutt hardly notices that his wheelbarrow sundaes have tripled in price as a a result.
I often wonder why they settle for an arbitrary mediocre number like $15/hr. They should push for $100/hr and we’d all be rich!
Who’s got James Carville’s cell phone number?
A multi-billionaire bragging about his helping low-income people seems disingenuous.
It will be interesting to see what the GA and Governor do next on raising the minimum wage. A general CPI type of adjustment or ever more far higher increases.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/real-estate/people-flee-illinois-blue-state-exodus/
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How many Illinois jobs will be taken over by automation?
Automation means no workers compensation premiums, no FICA matching, no employee benefits, no absentees, no HR issues, no minimum wage – all very attractive to a company’s bottom line. Also, fewer if any part time jobs for young people.
Just sayin’.
When will AI start teaching the children, oh no no more teachers, no more pensions, oh boy.
Pensions and teachers will be here for a long time. Public employees have bipartisan support to improve their social security with the social security fairness act. Most people support teachers and firefighters. Pensions will continue and now we can double dip if we worked 10 years in private sector or getting spousal benefits even if we never paid a dime into social security. These are not the actions of people that want to punish public employees. They recognized we weren’t getting our fair share and it was so unfair that both parties came together to fix it. Very rare in… Read more »
Why stop at $15? Why not $150?
You seem to be alluding to the arbitrariness of a minimum wage figure and the disregard for IL businesses and taxpayers. Your point is well taken.
We’ve finally been forced to cut back on eating out, from ‘fast food’ to ‘sit down’ – with taxes and tip it’s just way to much. We use to go out every week, now just once a month. Sorry, but like everything else in IL is just unaffordable for middle-class folks.
Once a month is about it for us. So be it. The idea that Americans are guaranteed the right to ‘eat out’ rather than fixing their own meals is a mentality that has unfortunately increased over the years.
I love the post-COVID tip protocols now. One is tipping when ordering food online. (And you thought restaurant tipping was just for waiters and waitresses.) The other is some restaurants expecting 20-30 percent tips after taxes. Remember when 15 percent before taxes was acceptable?
Same here Jack. Old Joe used to eat out for breakfast almost daily for years. Especially when I was working. Not anymore. At most, once per week.
Started with covid lock downs. Now higher prices, reduced operating hours, fewer options and spotty service has caused Old Joe to improve his grocery shopping and cooking skills.
The dining out world left me not vice versa. It’s kind of sad as Chicagoland had more and better restaurant options than Detroit ever did — hands down.
Food cost inflation has made eating out very expensive. I’ve found that very people have even considered that our 20,000,000 illegal immigrants, many of whom have high BMIs (which is very common in South/Center America), are competing with natives for basic food staples. It takes years to ramp up the food supply to meet this new demand. Farmers for the most part only plant crops once a year, it takes months or years to build the infrastructure to store the crops or house/feed the new animals, and it takes a year and a half or longer for a cow to… Read more »
Along with a minimum wage should be the minimum requirement you are a citizen or legally able to be employed .
I joined the full time workforce in 1973 making minimum wage of $5.00 a hour in a factory. I don’t think $15.00 a hour is enough for full-time work 50 + years later.
Bill, you need to check your facts. The minimum wage in Illinois wasn’t $5/hr in 1973. It was only $2.30/hr in Michigan in 1975 when Old Joe got his first job packing groceries and shagging baskets.
Yup, you are correct. In college in the early 70’s (Illannoy State) I worked various campus jobs at that $2.30/hour rate. Several college summers I worked the line @ the Heinz pickle/ketchup plant in Muscatine Iowa, making $4.50/hour, a fortune at the time, $26.00/hour in today’s geld. From an inflation calculator:
westegg.com
“What cost $4.50 in 1975 would cost $25.93 in 2023…”
I guess I don’t remember the minimum wage but I do remember $200 for 40 hrs work before taxes and that’s the minimum I ever worked for.
Any guesses on what size the T-Shirt is?
I know it would’ve covered my first car as a tarp, early 80’s Chevette.