Illinois Passes Increase In State Minimum Wage

Congratulations to the 308,000 workers who received a raise today, as the Illinois State House of Representatives passed a $1/hour increase in the state's minimum wage yesterday. The bill will now goes to the state Senate, which is expected to approve it and send it to Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich, who will then immediately sign it into law.

"The House passed the bill 74-43, with most of the support coming from Democrats and most of the opposition coming from Republicans."

What a surprise! Republicans citing misleading statistics, or using outlandish certanties like "This vote will absolutely eliminate thousands of jobs across this state," to argue against helping lower and middle-class Americans. Really tough to believe.

Although Democrats plan to raise the federal minimum wage as soon as they officially take power in January 2007, it is nice to see states taking matters into their own hands.