Pay Raises Pass
Not the minimum wage but the pay raise for General Assembly members and Constitutional officers. Base pay for lawmakers will now go from $57,619 to $63,143 plus all the extra money they get from committees etc. At least they are keeping up with the average teacher salary. The Governor's starting salary goes from $150,691 to $165,138. The starting salaries of the Attorney General and Secretary of State will increase from $132,963 to $145,711, while the starting salaries of the Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer will increase from $115,235 to $126,283.
The State Journal Register had the story with a link to the roll call. Taxpayers needed 30 Yes votes to stop the pay raise from happening. We only got 25. The roll call is indeed interesting.
Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-24, Westmont) - Present
Sen. Carole Pankau (R-23, Bloomingdale) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Edward Petka (R-42, Plainfield) - Present
Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-22, Elgin) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Peter Roskam (R-48, Wheaton) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Todd Sieben (R-45, Geneseo) - Present
Sen. John Millner (R-28, St. Charles) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Wendell Jones (R-27, Palatine) - Nay (In favor of raise)
Sen. Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (R-31, Zion) - Nay (In favor of raise)
19 Democrats voted Nay, in favor of giving themselves a raise, a cost of around $5 million more per year. And the state can't pay healthcare providers what they owe them and we don't have enough psychiatric beds for the mentally ill.
5 comments:
Sounds almost like what the Chicago City Council would do.
When I was first elected state representative the salary was $17,500.
At that time city councilmen got paid less. They now earn much more than legislators.
I can't help but notice they didn't "defeat" this resolution before the election. Also, is it safe to assume their pensions will go up proportionately?
Cal, I got that beat. My first minimum wage job was $1.60 an hour. ;)
From Lauzen's press release,
I voted to reject the pay raise because the state's budget is drowning in red ink," Lauzen said. "It is especially arrogant to increase legislators' pay when no action has yet been taken by the Ruling Majority to address the impending huge increase in utility rates.
I'm not one of these people reflexively opposed to these pay raises. But I don't think they could have picked a worse time in Illinois to do this.
Jeff,
Great to have you in Chi-town! God Bless Your Work!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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