Raising Illinois' minimum wage to $15 per hour would hurt workers entering the job market, Illinois state House Rep. Margo McDermed said in a recent statement.
"There is some evidence that some people already employed at minimum [would] benefit from the higher wage," McDermed said in a statement to the Will County Gazette. "I am particularly concerned that setting the minimum wage this high puts the first rung, the lowest rung of employment, out of reach for people not currently employed."
Last Thursday, the Illinois Senate voted 38 to 18, largely on party lines, to pass a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over six years. A similar bill sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood), which also would raise the minimum wage but would offer a tax credit to employers with 50 or fewer full-time employees, remains in the Labor & Commerce Committee.
Illinois state House Rep. Margo McDermed
| repmcdermed.com
Illinois should be learning from other states that have adopted a high minimum wage, McDermed said.
"Evidence from other places with $15 minimum wage shows that it does not reduce unemployment and even increases it," she said.
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