News · Press Release

Poll confirms that Meltdown Mike Bost is Wrong to Oppose the Minimum Wage

Another week, another poll in Illinois confirms that after 20 years in Springfield, Meltdown Mike Bost is only looking out for himself. A new poll from the Chicago Tribune reveals that the overwhelming majority of voters in Illinois want to raise the minimum wage, but Bost is headed in the opposite direction, saying he actually wants to lower the minimum wage in Illinois .

“Springfield insider Mike Bost is going to have a hard time explaining to voters why he’s taking a $3,100 pay raise funded by taxpayers while he wants to lower the minimum wage in Illinois,” said Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Mike Bost’s willingness to stand outside the mainstream of Illinois voters and oppose raising the minimum wage is another sign that he would only make Washington worse.”

BACKGROUND:

Chicago Tribune: 69% of Illinois Voters Support Raising the Minimum Wage. According to Capitol Fax, “The [Tribune] poll found 69 percent of Illinois voters back an increase in the state’s $8.25-an-hour minimum wage to $10 by Jan. 1 for adults over age 18. Only 27 percent oppose the proposal, while 5 percent had no opinion. The statewide poll, conducted among 800 registered voters Sept. 3-12, had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.” [Capitol Fax, 9/16/14; Chicago Tribune, 9/16/14]

Lawmakers Collect an Additional $3,100 in Public Pay. In 2014, Reboot Illinois reported that Illinois lawmakers would “collect an additional $3,100 each.” [Reboot Illinois, 6/9/14]

  • Headline: Lawmaker furlough days are cut creating a pay increase for state legislators [Reboot Illinois, 6/9/14]

Bost Said the Minimum Wage would “Hurt the Middle Class.” In 2014 Bost said, “I know this might not be a popular statement, this is the way I feel. You cannot lift up the middle class by to continuing to have over burdensome regulations on the job creators. That’s one. Two, as they try to push forward with a minimum wage, that minimum wage will actually hurt the middle class.” [Bost Tele Town Hall, 7/16/14; Capitol Fax, 7/23/14]

  • Headline: Bost: “minimum wage will actually hurt the middle class” [Capitol Fax, 7/23/14]
  • Headline: Local group attacks Bost’s stance on minimum wage [The Southern, 7/23/14]

Bost Said Illinois “Suffers” with a Higher Minimum Wage. In 2014 The Southern reported, “Bost said Illinois suffers with its higher minimum wage of $8.25 per hour compared to the federal level of $7.25 per hour. Jobs around the Illinois borders with neighboring states are lost because of the state’s higher minimum wage level, he said. He said when the minimum wage level is raised, it hurts middle-class wage earners because the cost of living goes up. [The Southern, 5/21/14]

Bost was Skeptical of Plan to Raise Illinois’s Minimum Wage to $10. In 2013, Bost was reported to be skeptical of Governor Quinn’s plan to raise the Illinois minimum wage to $10 over the course of four years.  “We have to compete with the states around us,” said Bost. [Herald-Review, 2/7/13]

Bost Opposed Raising the Illinois Minimum Wage to $8.25 by 2010.  In 2006, Bost opposed and voted against raising the minimum wage to $8.25 by 2010 saying “We, once again, have chased business from Illinois.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/30/06; SB 1268, Vote #12, 11/29/06; Illinois AFL-CIO Voting Record, 2006 – 2007]





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