NW Illinois News

Illinois' neighbors are already benefiting from an influx of workers fleeing Illinois' high taxes and various crises, and now they will benefit from businesses fleeing Illinois ahead of the six-year-long minimum wage increase signed by Gov. J.B. Pritsker earlier this week, a northwest Republican official warned.

"I think we will lose jobs as employers will have to cut back on expenses," Michael Dittmar, Village of Elizabeth president and Jo Daviess County Republican Party chairman, told the NW Illinois News. "I think we will see the 'Rise of the Robots.' My local McDonalds, Walmart and movie theater have recently gone to self-order or self-serve or self-checkout, and I think we will see more of that coupled with corresponding job cuts."

The border counties will be hardest hit, Dittmar said.

Village of Elizabeth President and Jo Daviess County Republican Party Chairman Michael Dittmar | Photo courtesy of Michael Dittmar

"Border counties will see jobs leave to go to the neighboring states," he said. "Lastly, the costs of items will most likely go up."

Dittmar also holds a seat on the Northwest Illinois Economic Development board of directors. The Northwest Illinois Economic Development promotes economic development and fosters business growth in Jo Daviess, Carroll, and Whiteside counties.

Earlier this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1, which will nearly double Illinois' current minimum wage of $8.25 to $15 over the next six years. The first increase in the state's minimum wage will be by $1 in January of next year, which will mean another $40 per week at $2,080 per year in labor costs for each full-time minimum-wage worker in Illinois.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage in Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kentucky is $7.25, and in Minnesota it is $8.04 for small businesses and $9.86 for large employers, but that may be changing in the Hoosier state. Three minimum-wage-increase bills were introduced into the Indiana state Senate last month, including one that would raise that state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021.

For years, Conservatives, including Republican lawmakers in Springfield, have warned that increasing Illinois' minimum wage would hurt workers, including those with disabilities, by reducing the number of jobs in the state; will not help the state's economy; and would not resolve the state's financial crisis. Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) last week—and in vain—called for further deliberation before the House passed the Senate Bill and it sped to Pritzker's desk, where it became law on Tuesday.

Now that the idea of an increased minimum wage has become law in Illinois, Dittmar said, he can think of little that can ameliorate the repercussions.

"I really don't know," he told the NW Illinois News. "Elect better representation in Springfield?  Like Republicans?"

He did have some advice for businesses, particularly small businesses in Illinois, who want to remain in the state but might find that challenging with their labor costs increasing by thousands of dollars per minimum wage worker over the next six year.

"Write letters to the Governor, to [Illinois state House Speaker] Mike Madigan [D-Chicago], their own representatives," Dittmar said. "Go online and be a witness when they debate bills in committee. Write letters to the local newspapers and to online places like NW Illinois News, explaining clearly what the problem is."

Dittmar recommended also recommended businesses in Illinois' Northwestern counties get in touch with Northwest Illinois Economic Development Executive Director Lisa McCarthy and others like her with "tons of economic development" for ideas about dealing with the increasing minimum wage and other issues.

They should also not be passive as the new minimum wage takes effect, Dittmar said.

"Lastly, get active politically," he said. "As we are seeing, elections have consequences."