Referendum Leads Towns To Reconsider Opt-Outs Of Wage, Sick Leave

More than 100 municipalities decided to pass ordinances exercising Home Rule authority to exempt local businesses from Cook County minimum wage and paid sick leave ordinances before they took effect in 2017. In response, Cook County commissioners crafted a pair of advisory referendums and placed the November 2018 ballot, putting the question to voters directly.

“Shall the minimum wage in your municipality match the $13 per hour Cook County minimum wage law for adults over the age of 18 by July 1, 2020, and be indexed to the consumer price index after that?” asked one.

It was approved by an 80 percent to 20 percent margin by 883,404 suburban Cook County voters, a turnout of almost 56 percent according to the Cook County Clerk's Office.

"Should your municipality match the Cook County earned sick time law which allows for workers to earn up to 40 hours (5 days) of sick time a year to take care of their own health or a family member's health?” asked the other. The sick leave question received even stronger support, with 86 percent saying 'yes' and 14 percent saying 'no.'

Several north Cook County municipalities were already adhering to the earned sick leave and higher minimum wage. Local leaders in Evanston, Skokie and Winnetka allowed the ordinances to take effect. Glencoe and Kenilworth adopted the higher minimum wage but decided against participating in the mandatory sick leave regulations and the village of Northfield is not a Home Rule unit.

But village boards in Glenview, Northbrook and Wilmette, as well as most of the northwest suburbs, worried about the effect on local businesses and passed ordinances making the county ordinances ineffective within their village limits. All three towns have made moves after the Nov. 6 election indicating they may change course.

In Wilmette, the village board created a working group that conducted a review of the ordinances. The report convinced trustees to reverse their decision in June with regard to minimum wage. Those changes took effect Oct. 1 and include a sunset provision and other clauses. However, the board voted 6-1 against adopting the earned sick leave ordinance.

“Thanks to the extensive public discussion of this subject in Wilmette during 2017 and 2018, and the comprehensive report of the working group," said Village President Bob Bielinski, "Wilmette residents are better informed and engaged on this issue than anywhere else in Cook County."

Voters in Wilmette approved the minimum wage referendum by 76 percent to 24 percent and the paid sick leave referendum by an 80-20 margin. Following the vote, Bielinski introduced an ordinance to fully opt into the Cook County rules set for a discussion and vote on Nov. 27. It would take effect Jan. 1, 2019.

"I believe that this should be done promptly, mindful of the need to provide notice to our business community," Bielinski said in a memo accompanying the ordinance. He said Wilmette's "thorough and thoughtful review of this subject for the past two years obviates the need for additional examination and that we should implement the results of the November referenda expeditiously."

In Glenview, Village President Jim Patterson asked staff to prepare an analysis for discussion at the village board's Dec. 4 meeting. Trustees also asked the village attorney to address the wording of the sick time question. When it comes to minimum wage, more than 75 percent of voters favored following the wage, according to a Glenview Journal analysis of precincts within village limits.

“We talk all the time about elections having consequences,” Trustee Debby Karton told the Journal, noting the referendums were placed on the ballot with the intent of getting more municipalities to adopt the county rules.

In Northbrook, trustees last month voted to opt in to the sick leave rules but not the minimum wage regulations. After the election, where 77 percent of Northbrook voters supported following the minimum wage rules, trustees moved to reconsider the question at a May 28, 2019 meeting. (At that point, the village board may consist of new members who are more amenable to minimum wage increases than current members.)

"We are a nonpartisan board, this was a non-partisan vote," said Trustee Kathryn Ciesla, noting close to half of the total population of the village, which includes minors and non-registered votes, voted in support the measure. "I'm not going to ignore the voters in our community who gave us a very clear direction."

Northbrook Mayor Sandy Frum and several other trustees said at the board's Nov. 13 meeting they would prefer state legislators set a higher minimum wage. But if lawmakers fail to do so at the end of the next legislative session in May, they said she would be ready to support the higher wage.

Decisions made by the new Democratic governor and his legislative super-majority in both chambers of the General Assembly may also impact the regulatory landscape in the suburbs next year. However, according to a letter from Glenview Rep. Laura Fine, who will take office in January in the Illinois Senate representing the 9th District.

"Given the complexities of a statewide bill," Fine wrote, "we cannot speak to the timing and form of the new bill except to say it would be very unlikely to get Northbrook workers to $13 an hour" by July 2020.