Good politics makes bad policy on Emanuel minimum-wage hike
On Sept. 3, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order requiring city contractors to immediately hike wages for the city workers they employ to $13 per hour from the current rate of $11.93 per hour. The current rate is already nearly 45 percent higher than the statewide minimum wage of $8.25 per hour. Illinoisans...
On Sept. 3, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order requiring city contractors to immediately hike wages for the city workers they employ to $13 per hour from the current rate of $11.93 per hour. The current rate is already nearly 45 percent higher than the statewide minimum wage of $8.25 per hour.
Illinoisans have two good reasons to take issue with the mayor’s proposal: bad policy and shameless politics.
First, the politics. It‘s all but confirmed that Emanuel will face a serious challenger in February: Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis. Lewis happens to be a staunch supporter of Fight for 15, a nationwide campaign that seeks to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. This stands as the highest proposed increase in the state.
In this case, Emanuel seems to be doing anything he can to front-run Lewis’ attacks. And that’s coming at the expense of practical considerations – like the jobs of Illinoisans.
The fact remains that minimum-wage hikes are jobs killers. And a state that currently ranks dead last in 2014 private-sector job creation cannot risk putting even more paychecks on the line. To argue that increasing the cost of doing business will somehow help low-skilled employees and job seekers is simply misguided.
Since January 2008, Illinois lawmakers have hiked the minimum wage three times. But this has done nothing to address the state’s anemic post-recession jobs recovery – the worst in the nation. And Emanuel’s domain has been hit especially hard. One million, or one in five, Cook Country residents currently depend on food stamps to get by.
So while pay raises might be nice for some, what Illinoisans need now is work. And that can only come with economic growth.
Illinoisans deserve legislation that can drive an economic comeback, not shortsighted policy forged amidst political concerns.