East Central Reporter

State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says the state's new minimum wage bill is misguided.

“If the goal is to have more money in peoples’ pockets, then we need to roll back the high taxes we already pay and let everyone keep more of their money that they already earn, not put more money in and take even more out,” Bailey said in a press release just hours after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed off on a bill pushed through by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

Senate Bill 1 nearly doubles the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2025. The increases are set to come in increments, starting with a raise from the current $8.25 an hour to $9.25 on Jan. 1, followed by a spike to $10 on July 1. After that, the rate will increase by $1 annually up to 2025.

Darren Bailey

Bailey voted against the measure and said lawmakers failed to take into consideration that all of Illinois does not operate the sameway.

“This minimum wage proposal mandates the same wages everywhere in Illinois which does not take into consideration the regional economic differences around our state,” he added in the release. “The cost of doing business is not the same in all parts of the state and this inflationary mandate will cause prices to go up on all goods and services. That will hurt families and seniors on fixed incomes the most on things like milk and bread, as well as energy costs to heat their homes.”

At $8.25 an hour, Illinois already had a higher minimum wage than the neighboring states of Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. The passage of SB 1 now puts the state on a par with New York and California with the highest minimum wages across the country.