State Senate Committee Considers Minimum Wage Hike
By: Eugene Daniel
Updated: May 2, 2012
PEORIA- The Spotted Cow, a restaurant in Peoria, depends on its employees, many of which make minimum wage. But now, owner Frank Abdnour is worried he'll have to pay more for their services.
"In my situation paying $10 an hour to a young high schooler or college student to scoop ice cream or service food is very out of line," said Abdnour.
The state's lowest paid workers could be paid more for their services .
A State Senate committee is considering a plan to raise Illinois' minimum wage to the highest in the country.
He's referring to a proposed plan to lift Illinois' minimum wage to at least $10/hr. That's nearly two dollars more than the current rate of $8.25/hr and would be the highest in the nation.
Abnour says it would be a big blow to small business like his.
"There's only two things you can control: Payroll and you're product costs. And when you're payroll costs keep going up. It just affects you. We have to make less money."
He says it could force him to raise prices, cut employee hours or even make layoffs. Roberta Parks, President of Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce says it could have even more of a trickle down effect.
"It increases their cost of unemployment insurance if you lay somebody off. It affects what they can attribute to social security. All those kinds of things," Parks said.
Abdnour says worst of all, it would hurt the customers.
"You can only charge so much for a product. An ice cream, a hamburger or whatever and your employment wage is a very big factor in that," he said .
The Senate committee postponed its decision during an executive session Wednesday afternoon. Currently, the state minimum wage is a dollar higher than the national average.
If approved, this would be fifth increase since 2006.
"In my situation paying $10 an hour to a young high schooler or college student to scoop ice cream or service food is very out of line," said Abdnour.
The state's lowest paid workers could be paid more for their services .
A State Senate committee is considering a plan to raise Illinois' minimum wage to the highest in the country.
He's referring to a proposed plan to lift Illinois' minimum wage to at least $10/hr. That's nearly two dollars more than the current rate of $8.25/hr and would be the highest in the nation.
Abnour says it would be a big blow to small business like his.
"There's only two things you can control: Payroll and you're product costs. And when you're payroll costs keep going up. It just affects you. We have to make less money."
He says it could force him to raise prices, cut employee hours or even make layoffs. Roberta Parks, President of Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce says it could have even more of a trickle down effect.
"It increases their cost of unemployment insurance if you lay somebody off. It affects what they can attribute to social security. All those kinds of things," Parks said.
Abdnour says worst of all, it would hurt the customers.
"You can only charge so much for a product. An ice cream, a hamburger or whatever and your employment wage is a very big factor in that," he said .
The Senate committee postponed its decision during an executive session Wednesday afternoon. Currently, the state minimum wage is a dollar higher than the national average.
If approved, this would be fifth increase since 2006.
