A state lawmaker’s proposal to bring back gas station attendants is creating buzz throughout Illinois.
The chances of the bill becoming law are about equal to the odds of the Bulls winning the NBA championship this year. But the mere suggestion has already done a world of good because people are talking about the need to create jobs in many communities, including those in the south suburbs.
State Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Oak Park, introduced the Gas Station Attendant Act Feb. 5. Some downstate news outlets reported on the proposal late last week and chatter about the idea spread like wildfire across social media.
“This is a ridiculous make-work proposal which serves no public good and will just raise costs for citizens,” someone using the Twitter handle @Seamus692 wrote in response to a media outlet’s request for reaction to the proposal. “The next step will be unionizing the attendants.”
Lilly’s proposal, House Bill 4571, consisted of a few short sentences.
“Provides that no gas may be pumped at a gas station in this state unless it is pumped by a gas station attendant employed at the gas station,” according to a synopsis of the bill. “Effective Jan. 1, 2021.”
Lilly was listed as the sole sponsor of the legislation, which was referred to the Rules Committee.
One could easily dismiss this measure as attention getting folly. The Rules Committee is often described as a legislative graveyard, where House Speaker Michael Madigan sends bills that will never again see the light of day.
People should regard the gas station attendant proposal with about the same level of seriousness extended to last year’s legislative suggestion that Illinois be split into two different states. Lawmakers from the so-called “Eastern Bloc” part of the state felt neglected and were tired of the perception that Chicago was hogging all the attention, and resources, in Springfield.
They proposed the Chicago metropolitan area be separated from the rest of the Land of Lincoln and become the 51st state. Lake Michigan is more likely to entirely freeze solid before any such separation occurs.
Likewise, Lilly’s bill is unlikely to go anywhere. That hasn’t stopped media outlets from spotting a buzz-worthy topic that has people talking. Many dutifully reported that New Jersey is the only state that requires gas station attendants and that Oregon recently loosened its restrictions to allow people to pump their own gas.
Some took a nostalgic look back to a time when you pulled into a gas station and waited in your car while an attendant served you.
“I’d be happy to sit in my car while the gas is pumped, the oil and tires are checked, and the windshield is washed,” Peoria Journal-Star columnist Phil Luciano wrote.
While we’re at it, maybe we could pass legislation requiring switchboard operators, elevator attendants, bowling alley pinsetters and other obsolete occupations. Let’s reopen the factory where buggy whips were made, while we’re at it.
It’s all nonsense, or codswallop or poppycock, for those who prefer outdated language to go with their outdated ideas about the economy.
Gas stations are not what they used to be. Today’s fuel stops are also convenience stores. People buying gas are incentivized to plunk down cash or swipe debit cards for snacks, drinks, cigarettes, lottery tickets and a bunch of other items that translate into product sales and tax revenues.
What effect would having attendants have on all those impulsive purchases? The measure might end up creating more economic harm than good.
Not to mention someone would have to pay attendants at least minimum wage, and those costs would likely be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices.
I left a message with an aide at Lilly’s office Tuesday requesting to speak by phone with the representative, but did not immediately hear back.
I wanted to tell Lilly that I appreciated her desire to help her constituents. Her 78th District covers the near western suburbs and includes parts of Oak Park, Franklin Park and River Grove. Her motivation, she has said, was to address unemployment in her district.
Unemployment is something people in the south suburbs understand. Perhaps underemployment is a term that more accurately describes the situation for a lot of folks. Many people work multiple part-time, minimum wage jobs. Their employers often don’t provide health insurance, paid time off or other benefits.
Lilly’s gas station attendant proposal, however well-intentioned, wouldn’t address the underlying problem of a lack of good-paying jobs in communities throughout Illinois.
The lack of jobs contributes to crime and causes young people to resort to stealing and dealing drugs to get money. Unemployment creates despair in communities, contributes to family separations and perpetuates hardship from generation to generation.
Lawmakers and community leaders should be talking about creating jobs for people. There are better ideas, however, than requiring gas station attendants.
One example is a summer jobs program resulting from a partnership between Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Housing Authority of Cook County. The beneficial program has provided jobs for dozens of young people who have cleared invasive species from woods and performed other tasks that benefit the public good.
Perhaps state lawmakers could allocate funds that could be distributed through regional authorities or municipalities to hire people for programs modeled after the federal Works Progress Administration of the American New Deal during the 1930s.
It’s worth remembering that in addition to constructing roads, dams and public buildings, the WPA included funding for cultural projects that contributed murals, statues and other works of public art to society. The program created work for writers, photographers and musicians in addition to manual laborers.
Lilly’s proposal may be so unlikely to succeed that it may not be worth spending time debating the pros and cons of requiring gas station attendants. However, her suggestion provides an opportunity to consider and discuss what policies and programs that legislatures and government administrations should encourage to create good-paying jobs to help communities.
Twitter @tedslowik1
