RESOLUTION AS AMENDED
WHEREAS, Congress has raised the federal minimum wage only two times in the last 20 years, most recently in 2009; and
WHEREAS, The value of the minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, has declined from its peak of $10.72 in 1968 to $7.25 today - a 33% decrease in spending power; and
WHEREAS, In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama expressed strong support for a bill pending in Congress that gradually raises the federal minimum wage over three years to $10.10 an hour and mandates automatic adjustments for inflation; and
WHEREAS, The White House estimates that, if enacted, the legislation would immediately boost the wages of about 15 million low-income workers; and
WHEREAS, According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 85,000 persons in Illinois, a large percentage of whom live and work in Chicago, hold minimum-wage jobs; and
WHEREAS, The majority of those who would benefit from a minimum wage increase are adult, full-time workers who are supporting their families in moderate- to low-income households; and
WHEREAS, Full-time minimum-wage workers in Illinois earn approximately $17,160 per year before taxes, which is barely above the poverty threshold for households of two people, and well below it for households of three or more; and
WHEREAS, The bulk of reputable research on the subject shows that raising the minimum wage has little or no adverse impact on employment and prices - to the contrary, according to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would help the economy at large, because the increased spending power of workers would increase our nation's gross domestic product by about $33 billion and create approximately 140,000 jobs; and
WHEREAS, A 2012 poll by Lake Research shows that at least 73% of Americans favor an increase in the minimum wage, including 74% of independents and 50% of Republicans, crossing all demographic, regional, and political categories, and polls in 2013 by Gallup and the Pew Research Center reached similar results; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this fifth day of February, 2014, do hereby express our wholehearted support for President Obama's proposal to raise the minimum wage, and call upon the City Council's Committee on The Budget and Government Operations to hold a hearing to consider this issue of importance to hardworking people in Chicago and throughout the nation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the Illinois Delegation to the United States Congress as a sign of our dedication to and support of this important issue.
CHICAGO, March 05,2014
To the President and Members of the City Council:
Your Committee on the Budget and Government Operations, having had under consideration a proposed Resolution memorializing the Illinois Delegation to the United States Congress to support the efforts of President Barack Obama to raise the Federal minimum wage, and having had under consideration a proposed Amended Resolution relating to the designation of the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations to have jurisdiction in this matter ; and having had the same under advisement, begs leave to report and recommend that Your Honorable Body pass the Amended Resolution transmitted herewith.
Chairman
This recommendation was concurred in by a viva voce vote of the members of the Committee.