Chicago’s minimum wage jumps to $17.05 tomorrow. These increases keep happening every year as long as the previous year’s unemployment rate stayed below 8%. How can Chicago afford this when Pritzker’s taxes and regulations are already crushing businesses? The plan to help workers? Make jobs too expensive for employers,... force small businesses to cut hours, and leave young people with fewer opportunities. This is what Pritzker means when he says he’s fighting for working families.show more

This is what happens when you have someone that never had to work in their life running the state’s economy.

I was in a McDonald’s a bit back and there was a sign ‘no cashiers, use kiosks’ jobs will simply disappear if the cost of labor is higher than the added value it produces. Especially as more and more automation options become available.

And then there is this :

As a small business owner, this is not good news at all.

I think he means he’s fighting working families…

Not going to stop until they shutdown all businesses, their solution create government stores with limited items communist state approved

More self-serve kiosks will replace employees.

democrats create dysfunction thus creating a voting block. they arent here to fix issues, they are here to create issues, they need dependent people

In between 2020 and 2024 when I was still working in the city most of the restaurants in the area where is worked, closed and didn't come back post-pandemic. I suspect this minimum wage will kill off the remaining food service businesses struggling to stay afloat.

No, it’s a plan to raise taxes involuntarily. Income tax brackets. True socialism where businesses pay more to the government, employees pay more to the government. Wait for regional inflation. Businesses close. Government adds “jobs”. Goodness it never ends..

A few more years and an android will do the same dumb job for free

It took me twenty years of hard work to get to 17 bucks an hour. This thing is gonna crash.

Can't wait to buy a classic Chicago deepdish made by government-sponsored illegals (who've replaced the citizens formerly employed) that now costs $100, after spending $75 in parking, $40 in fuel, $400 in ballistic vests for protection........ A night in Chicago sounds expensive.

say goodbye to more mom and pop shops 🥲

They should make it $50/hour and speed up the process.

Since when has "affordability" factored into any decision Illinois makes?

It would be nice if the commis would cut business taxes to help with this

Thanks, ChatGPT

This is completely unsustainable just like the 3% annual pension increase that’s bankrupting our state.

Kick small business out now! Perfect for the next wave of the mass exodus out of Illinois! Brilliant!

simple jen. you buy bitcoin stack sats spend dog shit usd save in hard money

It’s more money to tax on wages

He looks like a damn Muslim that’s our probably got Muslims in our government

That is what federal minimum wage should be. I worked with some that only put in enough hours to stay on assistance making more money that way & get a big tax refund. Increase in pay means they will be working less hours. Need full time jobs with insurance & people of assistance.

New gas tax also go in affect tomorrow!!

That’s delayed until Jan. 1, 2027. Election year.

@Diane42963 @grok is this true?

Yes, the core fact is true. Chicago’s minimum wage rises to $17.05/hour on July 1, 2026 for employers with 4+ employees (tipped base also up). It’s an automatic annual city ordinance adjustment: CPI-linked, capped at 2.5%, rounded up to the nickel. No increase occurs if Chicago’s prior-year unemployment rate (per Illinois DES) was 8.5% or higher. Your post said “below 8%”—close, but the official threshold is 8.5%. It has risen most recent years because unemployment stayed under that mark. This is Chicago city policy under its own ordinance, not directly Governor Pritzker’s (though he backs higher wages). Broader claims about crushing businesses, cutting hours, or hurting young workers’ opportunities are debated—some studies find modest income gains with little employment drop; others highlight costs for small employers. Effects vary by study and conditions.

@IlliniJen @Diane42963 What about the gas tax increase? Has it been delayed?

Yes, the scheduled Illinois state motor fuel tax (gas tax) increase has been paused. Public Act 104-0468 (signed June 16, 2026) suspended the automatic CPI-linked adjustment for 6 months—from July 1 through December 31, 2026. Gasoline stays at 48.3¢/gallon and diesel at 55.8¢/gallon during this period. The increase is now set to resume in January 2027. This is separate from Chicago’s city minimum wage ordinance.

Theory: People leave the city for jobs and housing long before the official unemployment rate reaches 8%

The more employers have to pay the more he can collect in tax. It’s pretty simple. Screw small businesses. Maybe a trend will start where companies leave?

More incentive to hire the illegal Venezuelans who are yelling racial slurs at CBS crews over at Alder Planetarium.

So if unemployment stays below 8% they keep rising minimum wage ? The highest unemployment rate is at 6.1% and that’s in DC. So this means the rates will increase until they price everyone out of the entire state. WTF is a matter with these politicians, like seriously?

JB is raising the minimum wage so he can blame trump for inflation in Illinois during his next election😭

Many more ordering kiosks at fast food coming quickly

Just a reminder the real minimum wage is ZERO.

Businesses will cut employees, and with further pay increases in Chicago and Cook County, businesses will close and move.