SPRINGFIELD (AP) — An Illinois lawmaker is pushing to raise the state's minimum wage to more than $10 an hour — higher than anywhere else in the United States.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Democratic Sen.
Kimberly Lightford of Maywood has introduced legislation to raise the minimum
wage by 50 cents plus the rate of inflation every year until it reaches the
point where it's equivalent to what $1.60 an hour was in 1968. Today, that
would mean an hourly wage of $10.03.
Lightford says she wants to make sure the working
poor aren't ignored or forgotten.
But opponents say the proposal could cause
businesses to move to other states — especially if it comes after a recent
corporate income tax increase.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Seth Perlman)
