Kane County Reporter

Republican state House candidate Laura Curtis argues Gov. J.B. Pritzker actions are crippling the very people he claims to want to prop up.

“I think we’re going to see many negative repercussions, such as employees being let go, forced to work less hours, and even some businesses just not being able to survive,” Curtis, running against incumbent Rep. Karina Villa (D-West Chicago) in the 49th District, told the Kane County Reporter. “This will do nothing to help the people that are struggling and who the governor claims are motivating these actions."

As part of the governor’s plan, the state’s minimum wage increased to $10 an hour on July 1 and will tick up another $1 on Jan. 1, 2021. By 2025, the rate is slated to jump to $15. 

Despite all the state's struggles, including many small businesses being forced to close their doors for months because of the stay-at-home order imposed by Pritzker as a way of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, the governor would not delay the pay hike. 

“It’s clear that the governor doesn’t understand how to run a business, at least not a business that has a need for minimum wage employees,” Curtis, a North Aurora resident, added. “Most of those businesses have thin margins to begin with that have only been stretched further by this pandemic and having to shut their doors. There’s no way all of them can withstand something like this. It shapes up as just one more major hurdle at a time when they can least afford to have it.”

With the state having recently moved to Phase 4 of the governor’s five-phase Restore Illinois plan, which allows many businesses to open with fewer restrictions and restaurants to finally start to offer some level of indoor services, Curtis said she is hoping it can make a difference for struggling businesses all across the state.

"That’s my hope, but no one can know for sure,” she said. “It’s a lot for them to deal with.”