Chicago aldermen are expected to vote on raising the minimum wage Tuesday. But Illinois lawmakers might not let Chicago go as high as it wants.
The debate over the minimum wage in Springfield is two-fold. One, is what is the appropriate minimum wage for Illinois. And two, is whether the City of Chicago should have a higher minimum wage than the rest of the state.
Steve Brown is a spokesman for the Democratic Speaker of the House. He says leaders are trying to see if there’s support for letting Chicago set its own rate.
But for now, the Speaker isn’t showing his cards.
"Yeah, I think I’m not going to venture down the path of examining all the permutations of the minimum wage and who it applies to and where and things like that," said Brown.
Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to meet again after this week.