A proposal to raise the state's minimum wage is on lawmakers' agenda again this year, but David Vite with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association says that will force jobs out of the state.
The state currently has the fourth highest minimum wage in the nation at $8.25 an hour. The proposal aims to boost the rate to $10.65 an hour in the next two years.
Illinois has been hovering around a ten-percent unemployment rate for the past several months. Bill sponsor Senator Kimberly Lightford says an increase is just what many families need to make it in this struggling economy.
