Bruce Rauner found himself in the middle of a firestorm of his own making Wednesday.
He told a downstate radio station last month that Illinois’ minimum wage of $8.25 an hour should be repealed to $7.25, the national minimum wage.
His Republican opponents for governor were quick to pounce. None of them -- Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, or Dan Rutherford -- want to raise the wage in Illinois, but none of the three want to give minimum wage workers a pay cut.
Late Wednesday afternoon, as Rauner continued his bus tour downstate, he phoned NBC 5 to "clarify" his remarks.
"I support moving Illinois to the national minimum wage," he said, while at the same time supporting "the national minimum wage moving up."
How far up?
"I can support raising the Illinois minimum wage in the context of pro-business reform," he said. "I’m comfortable at $10."
He added: "If we can change other elements to be pro-business" he believes it will make Illinois competitive with the other states.
