(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Some advocates for disabled Illinoisans employed in workshops oppose a bill to bring them up to minimum wage.
“House Bill 793 would end the (federal) 14-C program by 2027,” said State Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville), who led a Capitol news conference during the first week of the legislature’s fall veto session.
“All these clients and workers would be paid minimum wage by that time.”
Meier said since many of the workshops cannot afford to pay minimum wage, workers could lose their jobs.
People who want the bill to pass, said Access Living’s Nick Boyle, are numerous.
He said the bill “has been supported by Centers for Independent Living across the state of Illinois, by the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, the ARC of Illinois, the Illinois Association of the Deaf, as well as many other disability-led organizations.”
One workshop director from southern Illinois said there is a financial infrastructure supporting the disabled, who - he said - are happy just to get a paycheck, no matter the size.
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