Governor Pat Quinn made his State of the State address yesterday.  He says raising Illinois’ minimum wage is about dignity and decency, saying he wants to raise the state’s $8.25 rate to at least $10 an hour.  He also wants every worker in Illinois to have the chance to get at least two sick days.  Quinn says 43 percent of all workers in Illinois don’t have one sick day, which represents more than 2.5 million people.  Quinn’s office says his proposal calls for employers to give workers one hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked with a minimum of two days per calendar year.  However, employees wouldn’t be eligible for earned sick time until they’ve been on the job for a minimum of six months.  Quinn says it’ll help reduce turnover and retraining costs.

Governor Pat Quinn made his State of the State address yesterday.  He wants to again double an income tax credit aimed at helping poor Illinois families keep more of the money they earn.  He says the tax credit should be increased over five years.  The state last increased the credit in 2011 as part of an incentive package aimed at keeping big businesses in the state.  At the time, the state’s rate for the credit was among the lowest in the nation.  The legislation increased it over two years from its original 5 percent to 10 percent by this year.  State officials said it would eventually translate to an average of about $100 a year per family.  The Governor also wants to extend a water program designed to upgrade old systems.  This would be a $1 billion extension of a loan program, as he says a sound infrastructure is critical to a strong economy.  Quinn says the program will create 28,000 jobs.  Officials said that the state had one of the largest backlogs of drinking water repairs nationwide.

Governor Pat Quinn made his State of the State address yesterday.  He wants to beef up early education in Illinois.  He didn’t detail how much money the initiative will cost or how it will be run.  He says he wants to increase access to prenatal care, early learning and parental support.  Quinn says putting more resources into early education will pay off in the future.  The Illinois State Board of Education is asking lawmakers for a $25 million increase in early childhood education next year.  But funding could be scarce.  That’s because a scheduled rollback of the state’s temporary income tax may mean cuts for schools and social services.  The Governor is also calling for doubling the number of monetary award program scholarships for college students.  He says it’s part of his goal of making sure that 60 percent of the adult workforce in Illinois has a degree or career certificate by 2025.  Quinn says MAP scholarships currently help 140,000 students go to college.  It’s a need-base scholarship.

Governor Pat Quinn made his State of the State address yesterday.  He focused part of the speech on Illinois’ business climate.  He says he will create a new position in his office that will focus on advocating for small businesses.  The advocate will advise Quinn on issues and help start and grow businesses.  Quinn also called for reducing a filing fee to create a limited liability company to $39 from its current fee of $500.  That’s among the highest in the nation.  The idea is to make it easier for small businesses to get started.