Impact of Higher State Minimum Wage Expands

Three bills carrying the benefit of Illinois’s higher-than-the-federal minimum wage into other laws that have an impact on low-wage workers were passed by the Illinois General Assembly in its spring 2005 session and now await action by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Illinois’s minimum wage is currently $6.50 per hour, pursuant to a state law passed in 2003; the federal minimum wage is $5.15.

Senate Bill 519 requires the state welfare department to use the state or the federal minimum wage, whichever is higher, when it calculates the work hours for welfare recipients who must work for their cash or food stamp benefits or both (the grant amount divided by the minimum wage determines the required work hours). Current law ties the calculation to the federal minimum wage. This bill means that Illinois workfare participants are treated like other Illinois workers.

Senate Bill 1751 amends the Wage Assignment Act, and Senate Bill 1752 amends the wage garnishment law to protect 45 times the federal or the state minimum wage, whichever is higher, per week from seizure. Current law protects 45 times the federal minimum wage. These bills mean that low-income workers will have protected take-home pay of close to $300 per week, as opposed to approximately $230 per week.

The bills are being sent to Governor Blagojevich for his consideration.