Cook County approves $13 hourly minimum wage affecting suburbs

Suburban Cook County has joined Chicago in adopting a $13 hourly minimum wage, a move critics say is better left to the state but proponents contend is a response to the state's inaction.

The Cook County Board voted Wednesday to gradually raise the minimum wage to $13 by July 2020, following the legislation's approval Tuesday by the board's Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

The move, which comes more than a year after Chicago implemented the first phase of a minimum wage increase, adds Cook County to the growing list of government bodies seeking to help lift people out of poverty by raising the wages of the lowest-paid workers.

Legislative Committee Chairman John Daley, D-Chicago, a sponsor of the legislation, said during Tuesday's committee meeting that the ordinance is "the moral and right thing to do" and questioned whether any of the commissioners or their families could live on the state's minimum wage of $8.25 an hour.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-cook-county-minimum-wage-hike-1026-biz-20161025-story.html