(WJBC file photo)
By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
PEORIA – It sounds as if Gov. Bruce Rauner does not like the Senate-passed minimum wage bill as-is.
The Illinois Senate, with only Democrats voting Yes, passed a bill Thursday to increase the state’s minimum wage from $8.25 to $9 this summer and eventually to $11 by 2019. The only other consideration which could be called “pro-business” in that bill is a tax credit for small employers.
“We will get the minimum wage increased,” Rauner told reporters in Peoria. “We will do it in a comprehensive way, along with some pro-investment, pro-growth, pro-job creation reforms around workers comp, taxes, (and) regulation, so we can grow the economy (and) not hurt our employment level and not cause unemployment by only moving the minimum wage. We should do it on a comprehensive basis.”
Rauner’s post-State of the State stump speech promised more money for teachers – and even more money for the best teachers. Sounds good, but how do you pay for it?
“You know what? We’ve got a financial crisis. Many programs are going to have to be cut” to balance the budget, Rauner said. “The critical thing, though, is that education be kept a priority. We’re going to increase support for school districts from the state this year in the budget.”
Rauner’s budget address to the General Assembly, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, is Feb. 18.
