Illinois bill could seize tipped‑wage control for state, undermining Chicago mayor

(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers advanced a measure that would strip cities like Chicago of the power to raise wages for tipped workers, allowing the state to exclusively oversee rules that could halt the city’s push to phase out the subminimum wage.

House Bill 4263 would prevent local governments from setting rules regarding tips counting towards an hourly wage, making regulation of the allowance an exclusive power of the Illinois state government.

In the state, if a worker’s hourly pay plus tips doesn’t add up to at least the minimum wage, the employer has to make up the difference. Cities and counties are also allowed to set higher wage standards for the workers they oversee.

The bill preempts coming wage hikes for tipped workers in Chicago who make a sub-minimum wage, which is the next in a series of increases designed to completely sunset the tipped wage structure in the city under the 2023 One Fair Wage ordinance.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed a city council vote to stop the 2023 measure Wednesday afternoon...