Michael Reever, Vice President of Government Relations for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, testified to the Senate Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, June 23 in opposition to mandates such as minimum wage and paid sick leave.

Illinois is at a critical juncture. By implementing mandates without first addressing our State’s economic climate, he argued, we do more harm than good to individuals and businesses. He said the implementation of such mandates may have the opposite of the intended effect of lifting people out of poverty.

“In San Francisco, a mandated paid sick leave policy caused a 15% reduction to all workers either laid off, or their hours reduced. Businesses with 10-24 employees saw the greatest increase in layoffs or hours being reduced,” said Reever. “We are talking about neighborhood businesses in your districts and those you very likely support with your patronage, not necessarily the corporate giants that get much of the attention when discussing these issues.”

Reever also proposed potential solutions, including getting Illinois’ fiscal house in order, focusing on workforce development and providing more STEM education opportunities to students in Chicago to promote talent retention and development, and improving our transportation infrastructure.

 The Chicagoland Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with state and local elected officials in a bipartisan manner to find solutions to these issues.

Click here to read the full testimony.