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On Labor Day last
week, Blagojevich announced that he would like to see
Illinois' minimum wage meet
or exceed any minimum wage nationwide. Additionally, he
announced the creation of a minimum wage hotline for employees
or others to report employers who are not paying Illinois' baseline wage of
$6.50 an hour.
While appearing in Peoria, Blagojevich said, "I
believe if all goes well after this year we'll be in a strong
position (to get it passed), and my goal is to be able to
raise it so Illinois can have one of the highest minimum wage
laws in the country."
While the hotline
may help identify some of the small number of employers not
complying with the law, the Chamber is concerned such a
hotline will become a new way for organized labor and a few
disgruntled employees to harass lawful businesses.
State
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka responded to this latest
Blagojevich campaign announcement by saying that raising
Illinois' minimum wage to the highest in the country will only
drive businesses out of Illinois to states where the cost to
operate are lower.
Topinka did add that she supports a boost in the
federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Additionally, business
leaders voiced their concern over the new minimum wage hotline
because of potential abuse by disgruntled employees or even
competitors. |
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The political arm
of the Illinois Chamber, Chamber PAC, has launched a new
website to keep the business community abreast of the state's
daily political news and help educate business voters on the
key races in November. The site, www.illinoisbusinessaction.com,
complements the Political
Insider by providing a daily feed of political
news from around the state. The site also serves as home
to the Insider Archives and
related postings.
The site also
features information on the key pro-business legislative
candidates and provides an easy avenue for business leaders to
offer them their support. The Chamber urges you to visit
www.illinoisbusinessaction.com
to learn about and support the candidates of your choice. |
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Last week,
Congresswoman Katherine Harris beat back several primary
opponents, the Republican Party of Florida, national GOP
leaders and nagging ethical issues to win the GOP US Senate
primary. Harris
will now face incumbent Senator Bill Nelson in the November
7th election. Harris lost the support
of her state party shortly after announcing and her campaign
has been plagued by numerous staff challenges and an
investigation by the US Department of
Justice.
PI sat down with
former Harris campaign manager and former Jobs Coalition
executive director Glenn Hodas recently to discuss the
consistent problems with the Harris campaign. Hodas, who was the
third campaign manager, said that it was a combination of
things that have contributed to Harris being ostracized by her
own party. "She
was not up front with me when I came on board and was
secretive throughout my time with the campaign," Hodas
said. "The last
straw was when I finally learned in July that the campaign was
under federal investigation and prior to my arrival had been
served by a federal grand jury subpoena. Even with the swirling
corruption issues in Illinois, I felt it was
better to leave the campaign and return
home."
According to
Hodas, the Harris campaign is in its "fourth generation" of
campaign staff.
More than two dozen staffers have left the campaign
over the course of the past 10 months. "When I left in July,
17 other staffers walked out the door behind me," Hodas
added. As a political
consultant, Hodas continues to work in politics in
Illinois focusing on media
coordination for several fall races. |
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Congressman Jesse
Jackson Jr. has for sometime been considered by pundits to be
a mayoral candidate-in-waiting. Last week, Jackson took one step closer to becoming
an actual candidate for mayor of Chicago. On
Wednesday, Jackson announced the formation of an exploratory
committee to assist in deciding if the Congressman should
run in the 2007 municipal election. Currently there are
two announced candidates, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy
Brown and William Walls, former aide to Mayor Harold
Washington. Mayor
Daley has yet to announce if he will seek a 6th
term but did appoint CHA CEO Terry Peterson as his re-election
campaign manager. |
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The 8th
congressional district race has become one of the hottest
contests nationwide as David McSweeney attempts to knock-out
freshman Congresswoman Melissa Bean. On Tuesday, Commerce
Secretary Carlos Guitierrez will join McSweeney at a breakfast
fundraiser in Palatine. If you are interested
in attending the Business Leaders Breakfast, please contact
Sheila Morgan with the McSweeney campaign at 847-438-0020 or
smorgan@davidmcsweeney.com. |
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"Illinoisans
finally got something at Wednesday's sentencing hearing for
former Gov. George Ryan for which they have waited a long
time.
No, it wasn't a long prison sentence. It was an
apology -- sort of.
"When they elected me as the
governor of this state, they expected better, and I let them
down," Ryan said in asking for leniency." Read
the whole thing... |
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As has been the case for the past several
months, another story of alleged hiring impropriety hit the
Governor at the end of the week.