Jobs flee Illinois

Democrats love to trumpet increases in the "minimum wage," a move that polls well. However, when one state ups its minimum pay unilaterally, like Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich did, the consequences are lost jobs to other states.

Here's a real time example in today's Daily Herald.

Hoffman Estates-based Rely Services has a data-entry center in downstate Carlinville, which for years held state contracts to manually input tax and vehicle data.

But in bidding to keep those contracts, the company was undercut, in part, its officials say, because out-of-state firms can pay their employees a lower minimum wage. As a result, the center that at its peak employs 134 will see its workforce plummet to 14 on Monday.

"It's been a pretty sad day," production manager Brenda Witt told the Daily Herald last week as employees were finishing their final days at work.

The work those employees had done now will be handled by firms based in North Carolina, Michigan and Indiana, all of which have lower minimum wages than Illinois.

I'd be interested in a rebuttal from an Illinois Democrat on how this law is good for the more than 100 employees who won't be working at Rely Services any more.

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