I was born and raised about 265 miles south of Joliet and we go back to see relatives a few times a year. My grand niece is a fifth grade teacher. Her school system is getting some support from one of the few coal mines in the state. The starting pay in her school is $34,702 per year. Starting pay for Minooka grade school is $42,073.

The pay scale for state workers is the same in Chicago as in Cairo. A state senator or representative is the same anywhere in the state. The Democrats in Springfield want to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. In most of the upper part of the state $30,000 is going to get the wage earner off of any state aid but into food pantries or living at the parent’s home. Try raising a family on that much. Granted it will not get that high until 2025 and inflation will have raised the actual cost-of-living.

One proposal is for the minimum wage to be based on a geographical tier. The farther south a wage earner lives the less the minimum would be or the longer it would take to reach that $15 per hour. Both are sound and fair proposals since the living costs are less in the south end of the state. A fair living in northern Illinois is what is called living high off the hog in southern Illinois.

One complaint about a-shoe-fits-all approach is the businesses will have trouble earning a profit when the labor costs rise. The obvious solution is to raise prices a little. Most places can do that but a manufacturing business I brokered a deal on might not be able to compete. Others in the area are competitive because their labor costs are close to those in Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky.

Will a tiered system for minimum wage be enacted? Maybe this is because the poor don’t contribute to campaign chests or are politically active. Two other reasons are pay for state workers. Tiering state workers would cause union unrest. I know of no state which does that but it would make good sense for Illinois. The other reason is if the legislature tiered the other workers, wouldn’t we think it was a great idea to tier our senators and representatives salaries?

One cost savings to the state should be a reduction in state aid to those making minimum wage. Savings would be partially in rent, food and other subsidies. I doubt any additional revenue will come from taxing the higher wage because it will probably be offset by a reduced net income from businesses.

With all the pluses and minuses involved, I believe we should fully support the raises and hopefully on a geographically tiered salary schedule.