With the calendar-page turn to 2024 on Monday comes 320 new state laws that Illinois residents will need to navigate.
Some will have a widespread effect, including a law banning semi-automatic rifles and another requiring paid time off. But others won’t have an immediate or noticeable impact, including a law that lets county governments consider a potential contractor’s participation in an approved apprenticeship program in determining the winning low bid for a project.
One law that took effect in 2019 but is still impacting tens of thousands of workers is an increase in the minimum wage. It increases to $14 an hour on Jan. 1 for non-tipped workers and will reach $15 in a year.
What are tied together? I don’t think you read that right.
I don’t think anything here is a waste of taxpayer dollars either. If doing what’s right has the potential to be overturned in the courts, it should be done and then brought in front of the courts.