Your Diocese

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Before the Illinois legislature wrapped up the veto session prior to heading home for the holidays, senators and representatives passed legislation that increases the state’s minimum wage. The Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 1268 Nov. 30, which is scheduled to increase the state’s minimum wage to $7.50 an hour on July 1, 2007. The legislation included annual increases in the minimum wage in the next three years—set to be $7.75 in July 2008, $8 in July 2009 and $8.25 in 2010.

Social service providers and social justice advocates were reserved rather than enthusiastic when discussing new increases with Your Diocese. Pam Terrell, director of community services for Catholic Charities in DuPage County, commented, “Although this still is not a living wage in DuPage County, it is closer to one, and a step in the right direction.”

She further explained that the low-income people they assist in the western suburbs are spending more than 50 percent of their current income on housing. The leftovers are reserved for covering the high price of natural gas, gasoline and childcare expenses to name a few. She said, “Perhaps (the minimum wage increase) will give them encouragement and incentive to pursue entry level jobs with hopes of earning enough money to put a dent in covering the cost of their basic needs.”

Terrell speculated that the minimum wage increase would offer the most benefit to those who receive overtime pay. She commented, “In instances where this population is asked to work overtime, they will actually come close to making a living wage.”

Blessed Virgin Mary Sister Rose Mary Meyer, director of Project Illinois Religious Engaging in Nonviolent Endeavors, agreed that the legislation is pointing the state in the right direction. However, Sister Meyer said she was disappointed that the minimum wage wasn’t attached to the inflation rate. She warned that because when the rate of inflation tends to rise, the value of real income suffers.

The advocate for women and children said both segments of the population would benefit from the recent legislation. An estimated half million women in Illinois are expected to benefit from the new law, according to Sister Meyer. The issue of minimum wage oftentimes becomes a gender issue, she added, because 60 percent of minimum-wage workers are women.

Sister Meyer referenced a report released by Voices for Illinois Children, a non-profit and non-partisan group of child advocates, claiming that the increase would benefit 269,000 children whose parents earn the minimum wage. She applauded the estimated $2,000 increase in income the families would earn each year through the new legislation. At the state’s previous hourly minimum wage of $6.50 an hour, the annual income for minimum-wage workers amounted to a mere $13,520. “All of us would agree it’s very hard to raise a family on $13,000 a year,” she said.