By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – With the governor and lieutenant governor on the House floor, and activists cheering from the gallery, the Illinois House followed the Senate’s lead and passed the minimum wage increase.

The current minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour. It would go up a dollar Jan. 1 and continue to rise until it is $15 an hour in 2025.

This is important to Gov. JB Pritzker, as it was a major campaign promise, and he wants to sign the bill before Wednesday’s budget speech.

Unlike in the Senate, which approved it on a strict party-line vote, four Democrats voted No, and one voted Present. At least some are perceived to be “targets” of the Republicans in 2020 and may not have felt it politically astute to vote in favor.

“Who is the minimum wage worker?” asked State Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago). “It is my mother, and it has been my mother for the last 25 years. For me, it’s actually a personal issue.”

Many of the Republicans said the Democrats cannot sympathize with those who sign the front of a paycheck. State Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Springfield), who used to own a diner, said, “I cannot have a $30,000-a-year busser working for me.”

SB 1 has passed the House, 69-47-1, and awaits the governor’s action.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]