Shall Ill. increase min wage by Jan. 1? Rauner votes yes. Says no

Bruce Rauner said he voted Tuesday to support a minimum wage initiative that would raise the state’s hourly wage to $10 an hour.

That measure had considerable support, passing with 67 percent of the vote statewide.

On Thursday, in his first news conference as governor-elect, Rauner said he didn’t want the Legislature to tackle any weighty issues until he was sworn in as governor.

“I hope that anything of significance to be addressed can wait until mid-January, so we can all deal with it together on a bipartisan basis,” he said..

Rauner said he didn’t want the minimum wage raised without tax reform, tort reform and worker’s compensation reform.

“Raising the minimum wage is a priority for us as I’ve said, and the critical thing is what we do it an overall context where we drive up Illinois’ competiveness as I’ve always said,” Rauner said. “That is the critical priority.”

But that isn’t what Rauner voted for.

The minimum wage question on the ballot asks if the wage should go up by Jan. 1, 2015. It mentions no other reforms.

Rauner voted “yes.”

He won’t be sworn in as governor until after Quinn’s term expires on Jan. 12.