Gov. Pat Quinn’s claim that raising Illinois’ minimum wage by more than 20 percent will boost the economy and create jobs has been proven wrong on numerous occasions. Eighty-five percent of the most credible economic studies on the minimum wage from the last two decades point to job loss following a wage hike. And the hardest-hit demographic will be Illinois teenagers, who already face a 27 percent unemployment rate and one of the country’s highest state minimum wages.

Gov. Quinn is entitled to his opinion, but the facts are indisputable: Minimum wage increases harm the people they’re intended to help.

Michael Saltsman, research director, Employment Policies Institute