An increase in the Illinois Minimum Wage that has been championed by the Raise Illinois coalition advanced out of the Senate Executive Committee on May 16th, 2012! The day after we had over 100 Raise Illinois members and minimum wage workers in Springfield lobbying for the bill to pass in a full Senate vote.
Please call, email and fax your State Senator today!
CLICK HERE to go to the District Locator to find out who your State Senator is and how to reach him/her.
We need as many people as possible to reach out to their Senators and voice a strong message for working families: Pass Senate Bill 1565 to raise the minimum wage in Illinois!
Once you have entered your address into the District Locator, click on the name of your State Senator and you will find their contact info. Calling their Springfield office is the most important, but you can call their District office as well.
Senator Kimberly Lightford, lead sponsor of SB 1565
Thanks to our sponsor, Senator Kimberly Lightford, and all the Democrats on the committee! The bill, SB 1565, which would raise the minimum wage from $8.25/hour to over $10/hour in fifty cent per year increments by 2014, received the support of every Democrat and the opposition of every Republican. If you want to reduce the extreme inequalities in our economy, you can help by taking action today. Click here to find your Illinois legislators. We still need the bill to pass through the full Senate as well as the House of Representatives.
Minimum wage worker and grandmother Evalin Boblitt speaking about her struggle to raise the three grandchildren she takes care of on her own.
Below are links to some of the press coverage around the state. The first one is an interview with a Springfield grandmother who is raising her three grandchildren on a minimum wage job as a dishwasher in a diner.
“Illinois Minimum Wage Bill Moves out of Committee” on CBS Channel 31 in Peoria
“Bill To Increase State Minimum Wage Moves Passes Out Of Committee” on WICS-TV
“IL Senate committee votes to send minimum-wage hike to the floor” in Illinois Statehouse News
“Minimum Wage Bill Making Progress” on IllinoisHomepage.net
“Illinois legislature to consider increasing the minimum wage” in Daily American News
“State Senate Committee Approves Minimum Wage Hike” on CBS Chicago News
“Illinois committee OKs higher minimum wage” in Peoria Journal Star
“Illinois Senate committee votes to send minimum-wage hike to the floor” on FOX Illinois
“Minimum wage proposal advances in Illinois” in Quad City Times
“Vote on $10 minimum wage goes to Ill. Senate floor” in The Southern Illinoisan
“Illinois Minimum Wage Could Be Raised Significantly” on WIBQ-FM Terre Haute Radio
“Illinois Minimum Wage Bill Advances” in Progress Illinois
“Bill increasing Illinois’ minimum wage moves forward” in STLToday.com
