Bill Brady Wants To Lower The Minimum Wage In Illinois

Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Illinois governor, said today he will move to lower the state's minimum wage if elected in November.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Brady made the remarks at a VFW convention Friday afternoon. He argued that the state should lower its minimum wage to match the minimum set by the federal government.

Illinois' minimum wage is $8.00, and will rise to $8.25 on July 1st. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

Brady's remarks come as incumbent Illinois governor Pat Quinn is traveling the state heralding the upcoming minimum wage increase and promising to defend the rights of workers.

The Tribune reports Brady's hesitant adoption of the position:

Brady, speaking after an appearance at a VFW convention, initially hedged on saying whether he would support rolling back the state minimum wage to the federal level if he becomes the state's chief executive.

"I disagree with trying to elevate the minimum wage above the federal level," he said. "The federal level is a competitive level, competing with neighboring states. We are losing jobs because private sector business investments (are) going to other states."

Pressed further, Brady acknowledged he backs bringing down Illinois' minimum wage to the federal level if it remained lower than the state rate once or if he becomes governor.

"I would support equaling, uh, adopting the federal minimum wage, yes," Brady said.

Brady has never been a huge fan of the minimum wage. As a freshman state senator in 2003, he was quoted as saying, "I think supply and demand in the marketplace determines the rate of minimum wage. I don't think governmental intrusion is as effective."

In the State House, he voted against increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50 in 1999.

The Quinn campaign wasted no time connecting the dots. Brady "once again demonstrated his disregard for the hard-working people of our state," campaign spokeswoman Mica Matsoff told the Tribune.

Brady, an unexpected winner of February's Republican primary, has been polling consistently ahead of Quinn in the governor's race thus far, but the most recent poll showed that margin narrowing.

Comments

[Brian OHara]

02:49 PM on 07/17/2010

Jerk!

[Ed Stadick]

04:50 PM on 06/30/2010

If Illinois decided to raise the minimum wage to $20/hour and you owned a McDonalds, I think it would be clear that you would either have to raise the prices of your hamburgers, move to Indiana, or close shop, eliminating those jobs. While perhaps to a lesser degree, many business have the same choices when the rate is changed from $7.25/hour to $8.25/hour.

It is nice that the government is trying to help people who are employed at low wages, however it seems like it would be good to also help those who would like to work for $7.25/hour but are now not allowed to.

While it is true that $7.25/hour isn't enough to support a household, that is why most people don't try to do so. Many people are in families or have roommates etc. I propose it is better to be contributing $7.25/hour to a household income rather then contributing $0.00/hour working for months or years filling out job applications at places like McDonalds and not being able to get in because the minimum wage is too high.

Let the employee and the employer on Main Street determine the wage not bureaucrats in Washington or Springfield.

If anyone knows of any jobs anywhere between Chicago and Springfield paying $2/hour or up let me know I'll have people there in the morning.

[chuckfirst]

07:54 PM on 06/28/2010

The primitive economic theories posted are just that. Raising the minimum wage, will increase the price of good and services only do to Corporate greed. People need to start bartering, raising their food ,and becoming more self sufficient by cutting out corporate middle men. The Corporations rule are lives. Their corporate propaganda machine wants us to believe,it good to be one of their wage slaves,and live in a tent. Let Brady raise his family on a link card,and eat at a food pantry,or soup kitchen. Without the work and the saving of the middle class America would would not be what it is today. The Bankers and the Wealth are bailed out with our money,only to look at most Americans with disdain.

[Richard McRae]

06:40 PM on 06/28/2010

What people need to understand is that lowering the minimum wage actually DECREASES unemployment. The higher the minimum wage, the less money employers have to spend on hiring new employees.

Basic Economics 101: Most businesses have a set, predictable budget that they rely on for all of their operating expenses. They use historical data from previous years to fit tell them what their spending budget is, including the budget for hiring new employees. When minimum wage goes up that doesn't mean customers will suddenly start spending more at the business. So now they are operating off the same amount of income, but are forced to pay out more money. This causes them to sacrifice in some areas, which usually ends up being labor (since labor is the biggest expense of a business).

So although this looks bad on the surface, it is actually a good thing for the local community. Instead of having 10 employees at $8.25 an hour a business may be able to hire 13 at $7.25. What seems unfair to those who HAVE a job will seem like a wonderful opportunity for those who don't.

[WiltonDiary]

05:12 AM on 06/29/2010

You are entitled to your opinion, but not facts that are not true!

Name one economist that agrees with the Republican talking points and lies you are speading.

[Ed Stadick]

10:05 PM on 06/29/2010

Here's 14. All of their bios are in wikipedia.

Walter Block, Thomas DiLorenzo, Jeffrey M. Herbener, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Jörg Guido Hülsmann, Stephan Kinsella, Peter G. Klein, Roderick Long, Yuri Maltsev, Ralph Raico, Joseph Salerno, Pascal Salin, Mark Thornton, Thomas Woods

Please give workers to freedom to work for less then minimum wage if they want to.

[Chad Sexington III]

11:23 AM on 06/29/2010

I don't know if this view is simply myopic, naive or totally delusional?

Ask yourself who these minimum wage jobs are competing against . . . someone in China making Nike shoes for $2.00 a day?

Operating expenses/budgets are more effected by the rising costs of raw materials and transportation/shipping costs . . . and you won't see the cost of those factors going down any time soon.

Do you really think businesses/employers will reduce the price of their goods and services if a minimum wage cut is passed?

[PartTimeHero]

02:29 PM on 06/28/2010

Typical Republican ideal:
Preserve the upper class-Push the middle class into lower class and make sure they all stay there.

[DevonTexas]

02:13 PM on 06/28/2010

Cool. And while he's there, he can lower the cost of living for persons making a minimum wage!

[elemental775]

01:26 PM on 06/28/2010

Once again the republicans show how much they care for the little guy.

[ChiGuy]

12:09 PM on 06/28/2010

The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour.

The Living Wage Calculator from Penn State University shows these average figures for the entire state of Illinois:

- One adult: $7.83 (Gee...They might be able to splurge and buy real meat and fresh produce once a month!)
- One adult & one child: $15.27 ($8.02 higher - more than double - the federal wage. Back to the Chef Boyardee.)

In Cook County, the county in which Chicago is located, the numbers are even more disparate:

- One adult: $9.95 (Maybe they can find dented cans of soup for cheap)
- One adult & one child: $18.13 (Yeah....Good luck with that)

Not only should the minimum wage, at the very least, match the living wage calculations, there should be a federally mandated, perpetual cost of living increase included in the law.

[ChiGuy]

12:10 PM on 06/28/2010

Oops....Forgot the link...

http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/

[DevonTexas]

02:22 PM on 06/28/2010

thanks for that.

[drlove907]

02:21 PM on 06/28/2010

great post! fanned!

[JeffmChicago]

11:47 AM on 06/28/2010

To all of Illinois who are of voting age and making minimum wage at this moment.

You have a choice. Vote for Bill Brady who wants to lower your wages or Pat Quinn who wants to raise your wages.

Remember Illinois vote early and often.

[Ed Stadick]

11:47 PM on 06/28/2010

How about all of the college graduates in Illinois who can't get a job at McDonald's hard as they try. They will be voting for Bill Brady $7.25/hour is better then making $0.00/hour filling out job applications for months and years at at time.

[JeffmChicago]

04:47 AM on 06/29/2010

Ed that doesn't make any sense. Who in their right mind would rather work for a dollar less just because they are not working at this moment?

[WiltonDiary]

05:15 AM on 06/29/2010

Ed, if you like that so much why don't you take a cut in pay so that others might work in yoru company! OR, move to Rantoul where you can detassle corn and cut the weeds out of the soy beans for $2.00/hour?

[Chad Sexington III]

11:19 AM on 06/28/2010

This is beyond sociopathic when you consider that minimum wage flatlined at $5.15 an hour from 1997-2006.

Minimum wage need to be adjusted for inflation as I'm fairly sure the cost of living isn't receding anytime soon.

[Bude]

11:14 AM on 06/28/2010

He's going to lower the minimum wage to less than a pack of cigarettes?

[BVictor1]

11:57 AM on 06/28/2010

And I'm sure that he thinks that the tax on those are too high.

[RES312]

06:31 PM on 06/28/2010

I don't think he smokes, remember it's raise taxes on the poor cut for, the rich.

[the964kid]

12:37 AM on 06/28/2010

Republicans always want to go backwards.

[Ravi Abunijad]

03:07 AM on 06/28/2010

I was thinking the same thing. In seriousness, they should be called "regressives" with a "regressive agenda" in the same way that conservative commentators like to scare viewers about "progressives" and the "progressive agenda."

[Mark Harker]

03:36 AM on 06/28/2010

well if regressive is the opposite of progressives i'll take the title with honor.

[Gin1234]

10:13 PM on 06/27/2010

These republicans are so tiresome. There isn't a minute they aren't thinking of how they can scru the workers to benefit business. The minimum wage isn't the reason that Illinois is faltering. It goes deeper than that, but the workers and what benefit they might have it the first thing these people grab onto when they are looking for an explanation. The competitive market will determine the minimum wage. Yeah right. If you let the market determine it, people would be paid about 4 dollars an hour right now.

[Mark Harker]

03:37 AM on 06/28/2010

we aren't trying to screw anybody - we just have different ideas on how to achieve the same thing.

[JeffmChicago]

11:48 AM on 06/28/2010

Republican ideas are abhorrent.

[BVictor1]

12:01 PM on 06/28/2010

Yeah, pay people so little that they'll need welfare, then take tha from them also and call them lazy and unwilling to work.

[windycitybrain]

09:58 PM on 06/27/2010

This "genius" might have been "thinking" he could capitalize on the divide between the Chicago voters - who are very highly democratic- and the downstate voters who are more likely to be republican. The cost of living also varies HIGHLY between the two places. As he lives in Bloomington Il, where it is remarkably cheaper, the dollar difference might appeal to the "moral majority". In my home city- he just cut off his leg. In either case- I would love to see him try to live off of minimum wage- in both places- for at least two months a piece!

[tjconkster]

07:50 PM on 06/27/2010

Just when I think I've heard it all from the repugs...another one comes along and surprises me again...I thought that Hair Rand was out there...this guy really wants a two class society...the Wealthy and the rest of us here to serve them....