Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Minimum wage hike could put workers out
Posted: 05.18.2012 at 6:41 PM
Kristen Aguirre

Kristen Aguirre is a KHQA This Morning Live Anchor for KHQA.

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If the proposed Senate bill passes minimum-wage could increase to over $10.
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QUINCY, ILL. -- A Senate Committee passed a proposed bill to raise Illinois' minimum-wage Wednesday.

Most minimum-wage employees like the idea of making more money ... but there is a down side.

"I don't know that the raise in minimum-wage is going to really balance it out, I don't think it's going to help anything really," Tom Gooding said.

Gooding is a minimum wage worker at Krazy Cakes Cafe and Bakery and he's against the proposed bill that could raise minimum-wage from $8.25 to over $10. But why is he against it? Job security.

"So if you see a 20 percent increase in wages, you're really going to have to consider hiring less people so that you can provide for the employees that you do have," Mark Lammers, Hy-Vee on Broadway store director said.

"I wouldn't like to see it because we need all the employees here," Gooding said. '"For a small business we're awfully busy here and everybody has a really specific and important function."

Most local business hire minimum-wage workers and they say raising wages could force them to raise prices. If they can't make a profit they can't hire or keep employees.

"You know it's another way that the state of Illinois is making the business environment throughout our whole state very unstable for a business owner," Amy Looten, executive director of the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce said. "They just never really know what's coming next down the pipe whether it's another increase in minimum wage or another new tax you know whatever. There's just instability right now."

But the Senate is hoping to make the economy stable with this bill. Supporters say the hike will put more money in workers pockets, allowing them to spend more but business owners think otherwise.

"I think once the prices go up it really doesn't help a whole lot to put more money in people's pockets but they have to pay more money for the goods that they're buying," Billy Martin, the owner of Krazy Cakes said.

If the bill passes, wages will be increased yearly by 50 cents until 2015 making Illinois the highest minimum wage in the country.

The bill now goes to the Senate floor for a vote.

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