House committee OKs $1 minimum wage increase

SPRINGFIELD – Legislation poised for passage in the Illinois House would raise the state's minimum wage by $1 this summer to $7.50, and add 25 cents in each of the following three years. By July 1, 2010, it would be up to $8.25 an hour.

The House labor committee approved the series of increases on a party-line vote Tuesday, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, predicted it would pass the full House as early as today. He painted the House version as an improvement over a bill the Senate passed on Nov. 15.

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