When Illinois Governor Pat Quinn wanted to make the case for raising the minimum wage in his state, he called in the president—not Barack Obama, but Josiah Bartlet.
Yes, Quinn asked actor Martin Sheen, who presided over The West Wing, to use his celebrity status to urge elected officials to lift the minimum wage, according to a press release by Raise Illinois, a coalition of civic organizations and minimum wage workers and supporters.
Sheen has also played the role of a real president, John F. Kennedy, on television as well as some other fictional ones in films. In real life, he has been an activist in political and environmental causes for many years.
There are an estimated 400,000 minimum wage workers in Illinois. Legislation is pending in both the Illinois State House and Senate to raise the minimum wage. House Bill 3718 and Senate Bill 68 propose to raise the minimum wage in Illinois to $10.65 over 3 years, but those bills do not change the laws regarding tipped workers, temporary workers, or teen workers or make other changes to the minimum wage law except for the increased rate, says the press release.
While a statewide survey by the National Employment Law Project found over 71 percent of Illinois voters support raising the minimum wage, it looks like the governor thought that some added star power, even if not presidential, never hurts.
Wise employers will start planning now for an increased minimum wage. It seems likely to occur over the next few years.