Economic Development Committee members said Wednesday night they want to hold at least two public forums before acting on a proposal to establish a minimum wage ordinance for Evanston
Ald. Krissie Harris (2nd) was among the panel members who balked at the idea of advancing the plan from Ald. Devon Reid (8th) to create a wage scale higher than that already imposed on local businesses by Cook County.
Harris said the city “tends to do it backwards,” first making a decision, and only then the businesses find out about it.
Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) said many businesses are struggling and feel they’ve been left out of the process.
Reid, who has proposed a raft new regulations on businesses in his two years on the council, wore the same sweatshirt to the committee meeting that he wore at Monday night’s Council meeting — supporting the “One Fair Wage” organization.
That group seeks to eliminate lower minimum wages for tipped workers and to enact a $25 minimum wage by the 250th anniversary of the issuance of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.
His proposed Evanston ordinance does not go that far — but creates a formula that would raise Evanston’s minimum wage to $17.08 by 2026, assuming the consumer price index continues to increase at an annual rate of at least 2.5%.
Evanston employers already are required to pay the highest of three different minimum wage rules imposed by different levels of government.
Those are the federal minimum wage, which has been $7.25 since 2009, the...
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