Mayor's Row....by Ned Mitchell

            Is the new minimum wage law in Illinois driving jobs out of our state?  On the surface one would think that would not be the case and that Illinois has taken the lead over federal law and passed a law that requires folks be paid at least $7.50 per hour as of the first of July this year.  This year's raise was for $1.00 dollar per hour and there will be subsequent raises for the next three years of .25 cents per hour capping off in the year 2010 at $8.25 per hour.  This will mean that a person working for minimum wage on a full time basis will be earning an annual salary of $17,160.00.

            There are plenty of arguments on both sides of the fence here and unfortunately our short sided and very fence sitting state legislators and governor have once again stopped short of doing what a practical person would do.  Illinois now has a minimum wage that is among the highest in the nation.  Some say it was long overdue and others argue that it is too much and that Illinois should be aligned with the federal minimum wage that President Bush just signed that will top out in 2009 at $7.25 per hour.

            An example of what is going wrong in this state takes place in Carlinville, Illinois.  In Carlinville there is a company that for years has had a contract with the State of Illinois to input tax and vehicle data.  The company is owned by Rely Services in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and has 134 employees.  Those employees are now in the unemployment line due to the fact that their company lost its' contract with the State of Illinois.  So while that great reformer/unreformer Governor of ours is hiding from everyone due to the massive federal investigation going on, he manages to slip out a comment or two via the media promoting that same old political song the democrats are so handy at singing about helping working families.  Democrats have left the working families of this state and this country so far behind it is not even funny.  We see and hear a lot of political rhetoric but this is another classic example of all of us being made fools of.

            Rely Services is Carlinville's largest employer and the loss of 134 jobs is not good news for these folks.  How are we short sighted you might ask?  I'm glad that you asked that question.  The contract that Rely Services had has now been awarded to firms based in North Carolina, Michigan and Indiana.  You read that right folks, we used to have 134 jobs in Carlinville, Illinois doing work for the State of Illinois and now those jobs are gone and the work is being done by companies in three other states.

            One of those states is right next door to us and that is Indiana.  For several years now Indiana has had a state law on the books that gives preference on state business to companies located in and doing business in Indiana.  Now there is a novel idea!  Where on earth are our state legislators?  Indiana has set a goal of having 90 per cent of state business remain in that state and they project that it will keep more than $1 billion dollars in the state of Indiana.  Are you listening Representative John Bradley and Senator Gary Forby?  Are you guys asleep at the switch or what?

            I have written and complained about for years how the fact that Indiana is building coal mines and power plants to who laid it while we sink deeper and deeper in this state in the quagmire of unemployment.  In my brief stint as a State Senator I went to the trouble to meet with the Indiana legislator who authored the law in Indiana requiring their power plants to burn 85% Indiana coal.  I tried to get that on the table in Springfield and it not only fell on deaf ears with politicians I had trouble getting too much support from union big wigs.  Folks do not want to rock the boat at any level anymore and until we start holding those we pay to represent us accountable, then we will continue to see short sighted legislation.

            It is a very simple concept here, just look next door to Indiana.  Their economy is booming.  They are attracting car manufacturing plants that look at Illinois and very quickly go just east of us.  They are light years ahead of us in energy production and they do burn 85% of their own coal mined by their own people in their power plants.  They give a leg up to Indiana owned and operated businesses that want to bid on state contracts.  What do we do in Illinois?  We burn all of the western coal that we can buy in Illinois power plants.  We are held hostage by a renegade bunch of legislators from Chicago who screams clean air every time someone mentions building a coal burning power plant.  Is it not odd that Indiana has the same clean air requirements as Illinois under the federal Environmental Protection Agency?  Do you not find it strange that they have found how to clean up the process that allows them to burn their own coal and produce their own electricity?  We have spent millions and millions of dollars on research that has not provided us with any massive jobs being created.  We talk a good game here in Illinois but we are dead last when it comes to job creation.

            What we need is for some of our legislators to get out of the slump they are in and to do something, anything, just do something.  Thousands of laws are introduced every year in Illinois and I am convinced that we are lacking in common sense in this state.  If Indiana can have a law that requires the burning of 85% of their own coal and if Indiana can have a law that requires any state contract be awarded to an Indiana business then Illinois can do the same thing.  All it takes is one legislator to take the time and do the research and then introduce the legislation.  After all is that not what we are paying these folks to do?  It should not be my job or your job to call this to their attention.  They should have enough on the ball to know that jobs are being lost in Illinois due to the fact that out of state businesses are taking state contracts mainly because the state where they operate has a lower minimum wage.  If Illinois is going to require businesses to pay a higher minimum wage then Illinois should be willing to give an advantage to an Illinois owned business.  If our legislators expect you and me to pay more for goods and services due to the increase in the minimum wage then they should be willing to pay a little more for state contracts to keep the jobs in Illinois.  Dumb, dumb, dumb is what this amounts to and we for sure can do much better than what we have been doing! What are you waiting for?  Contact your state legislator and ask them where they are at on this matter.  A majority of them voted for increasing the minimum wage and I have no problem with that.  In their haste to send out press releases claiming their good deeds for working families they did forget to protect the working families who have now lost jobs in Illinois.  The jobs in Carlinville are now in Indiana, North Carolina, and Michigan.  But wait, there is good news, our Illinois State Senate has formed a task force to look at the issue.  Of course this task force is not due to give a report until the end of 2008.  That is only a year and a half from now so how many more state jobs will be lost?  You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves!  Amazing!

            We have lost several Sesser residents this past week and we want to express our profound sympathy to the families involved.  Former Sesser resident and outstanding athlete Bobby Doerr died a week or so ago.  I will always remember Bobby's love for sports and especially baseball.  I watched him play a lot of games on the Sesser field and watched his dad Don do the coaching.  They were truly a father and son team and both loved not only the game but life itself.  Ralph Roether was our resident handy man and he died last week from a quick illness.  Ralph had lost his wife just a few weeks back and it came as a shock to learn of Ralph's death.  Ralph lived right behind city hall and was a good father, husband, and grandfather and our neighbor.  He had an outstanding garden and never complained to us about anything even when those many stray cats who hang around city hall got in his garden!  I'll miss those garden conversations with Ralph as I leave city hall out the back door this week.

            Ilah Winn also has passed away and there is not enough room or time for me to explain just what Ilah meant to Sesser and to me.  She lived a good life and was 93 years young when she died.  She had been in the hospital and nursing home for several years but not one time did I hear her complain about it.  She actually liked the nursing home she lived in and even though it was not home, she did find her peace there and accepted the care she received.  Ilah was a member of that great generation that went through the hard times and became a stronger person because of it.  Her pride in Sesser was unmatched and she was always interested in making this town a better place.  She was involved from the outset in the restoration of the historic Opera House and without Ilah and those just like her we would not have that building today.  We hope to continue on in the same manner that Ilah would want us to do.  It is the best thing we can do to honor her and her many contributions to Sesser, her church, and her neighbors.  She was a great lady and a great citizen of Sesser!

            If you need us give us a call at 625-3611 or 625-5322 or write to nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 277, Sesser, Illinois.  We are always happy to hear from you in what ever manner your wish.  We are here to serve you in the best way that we can!