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* Belleville News-Democrat…
The Illinois Municipal League released a letter this week urging legislators to push back on a one-size-fits-all statewide approach. The organization is pushing for a wage increase that takes into account the “significant economic differences” communities face.
“We ask you, as a legislator representing our cities, towns and villages, to recognize that while $15 per hour may be acceptable for some communities, it has a different and varying impact among regions throughout the state,” the letter reads.
IML Executive Director Brad Cole said municipalities big and small will feel the effect of a $15 minimum wage hike. He said beyond the impact on city budgets and employment, collective bargaining negotiations between cities and employees also could lead to higher wages.
The IML also states the increase would have a negative impact of employers and employees because of the differing economic states of the state’s region.
“An increase to $15 per hour, even over a long period of time, could have a negative impact on many employers and employees in our communities because the dynamics in major metropolitan areas simply do not exist everywhere and cannot be relied on to blunt this added cost.”
* From a commenter on today’s post about the Local Government Distributive Fund…
Funny how nobody is harping that the amounts the state pays to municipalities isn’t adjusted for region.
When the money flows to them, the small towns want financial parity with the big cities. When it’s minimum wage it has to be adjusted because things are less expensive in rural areas.
Yep. And they get even more bank for the buck on the 55/45 Downstate vs. Chicagoland spending split on IDOT projects.
* Also…
The research shows the south region receives $2.81 in state funds for every $1 generated. The central Illinois region of 50 counties receives $1.87 back for every $1.00 sent to Springfield. All of the downstate regions receive more from the state budget than they pay in taxes. By comparison, Cook County receives 90 cents for every $1, and the suburban counties only 53 cents for every $1 generated.
The business groups have every right to make this regionalization argument. The IML, however, could eventually see its own logic thrown back in its face.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:01 am
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Funny how there is a difference between the collection and redistribution of tax dollars from one governmental body to another and forcing independent business to conjure up magic money out of thin air to pay entry level workers….funny.
Comment by Unpopular Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:04 am
Please let “downstate “ leave as they so desperately seem to want I think the collar counties ought to form there own state.
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:09 am
Not one downstate Republican has filed a bill setting the pay for downstate legislators 26% below what Chicago lawmakers get. Not one.
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:14 am
Biz groups asked if they wanted a system like prevailing wage. Nope they said.
Comment by Annonin' Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:22 am
The salaries of county officials, city officials, police chiefs, fire chiefs, sheriffs, school superintendents to name a few are not the same. Location, size of the unit of government, size of staff and range of responsibilities all differ.
However, legislators are elected to represent approximately the same number of citizens and share the same responsibilities and take the same oath. Thus I believe equal pay is appropriate.
Comment by don the legend Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:36 am
No different than the schools. People generally want to help off the less well-to-do downstate, right? I guess we should make prevailing wage universal too then. A union laborer in Alexander County ($26.83) should be paid the same as one in Cook ($41.20/hour), right? Alexander County could and should swallow the 50% increase in labor on road projects to no effect, right?
Comment by Shemp Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:51 am
=The salaries of county officials, city officials, police chiefs, fire chiefs, sheriffs, school superintendents to name a few are not the same.=
Very true.
=Location, size of the unit of government, size of staff and range of responsibilities all differ.=
Speaking only for schools, our district ir school may be smaller but we are doing all of the same things larger schools have to do with fewer people. I can say for a certainty that small school administrators are responsible for many more tasks than the large district colleagues
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 11:53 am
Don, you are arguing that downstate lawmakers are entitled to the same pay because they do the same work, regardless of where they work.
Republicans are arguing that people who do the same work ought to be paid differently based on where they live, even if they work for the same company.
In Barrington for example, which straddles the county line, GOP believes folks at a Dunkin Donuts in Cook county should get $15 an hour while someone working at another store a mile away in DuPage County only gets $13.
Good luck rationalizing that.
Because as I understand it, pay would not even be based on where they live, but where they work.
PS: the IML constantly rejects arguments that municipal employees should be paid enough to afford to live where they work when it comes to Chicago’s most affluent suburbs. Ask the firefighters along the North Shore.
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 12:42 pm
Quite a few people in this thread are giving perfect examples that the non-urban areas in the state should not be getting the same funding from the state - because it’s cheaper in those areas.
Unintended consequences are a part of making a decision. Pick your ideals carefully, and after thoughtful consideration. IF you don’t, do not get upset when someone decides to hold you to your ideals in an area you didn’t bother to think about.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 12:45 pm
Juvenal, I was addressing those who want to pay legislators differently when they are essentially identical in all ways except where they call home.
If this exception is someone’s deciding factor in whether a wage should be different then I will agree that in their view I am wrong.
Comment by don the legend Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 1:02 pm
Funny how people in or near poverty are expected to tough it out, apparently as it’s character building, but the higher the compensation or the greater the wealth, the more the “invisible hand” is lauded.
Comment by VerySmallRocks Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 3:39 pm
The EBF school funding formula has a regionalization factor in it to account for the lower salaries paid outside of Chicago and the suburbs.
Comment by Still Waiting Thursday, Feb 14, 19 @ 4:15 pm