Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday vetoed a minimum wage measure that would have hiked the state’s hourly rate to $15 over five years.
The current minimum wage is $8.25. But under the measure, workers 18 and over would have seen their wages jump in 
periodic increments until 2022. The bill also included a tax credit to protect small businesses with 50 employees or less. The bill’s House sponsor Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, had argued that workers aren’t able to make ends meet while big corporations are reaping the benefits.
“Once again, Gov. Rauner has shown that he’d rather project the profits of his corporate allies than help lift millions of Illinoisans out of poverty,” Guzzardi said. “We, the people of this state, know whose side the Governor is on. It’s not ours.”
