Pay boost for state lawmakers was their first order
The lame-duck session of the legislature was so lame members couldn’t wait to raise their pay before tackling important issues facing Illinois. Like the ban on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons and extended magazines.
Mainly Democratic lawmakers voted for a nearly 17% pay hike last Friday, while pushing the Protect Illinois Communities Act until Monday of this week. All Republican legislators and a few Democrats didn’t rush to cash in on the 2023 gold, but they’ll surely accept their now-inflated state checks.
Before finally approving the military-style gun ban, lawmakers also boosted the salaries of the governor, other statewide officials and the heads of state agencies. Instead of “State Sovereignty, National Union” as the Illinois motto, perhaps it should be changed to, “Where’s Mine?”
The pay raises boost the annual salary of rank-and-file lawmakers to $85,000 from $72,906, according to a Chicago Tribune story. That amounts to a $12,904 annual increase in base pay for members of the House and Senate.
Ask yourselves when’s the last time you saw a 17% salary increase in your jobs in the private sector. Never? One House Republican called the raises, “Christmas in January for legislators.”
That was some gall as the gun bill stalled in the Senate. That took place even as Lake County citizens and lawmakers pressed for its adoption since the massacre at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, where the gunman used a military-style weapon to kill seven and wound four dozen.
It’s not like the vote on the measure was a surprise. There were several legislative hearings on the topic.
Lake County and other governmental bodies across Illinois have been in support of increased firearm regulation for years. Following the Highland Park tragedy, the Lake County Board made banning assault weapons a priority in the county’s state and federal legislative agenda.
Unlike his legislative colleagues, Gov. J.B. Pritzker took immediate action after the gun bill reached his desk on Tuesday. He eagerly signed it.
On top of their pay hike, most legislative members will get at least $12,000 or more as stipends for extra duties, like committee heads and per diem while the legislature is in session. The measure also creates two new leadership positions, which come with additional pay on top of their base salary, for legislative caucuses that have supermajorities. That would be currently and, for at least the next decade, Democrats.
Also getting increased remuneration for public service are elected state officials, ranging from 8% to 10%. The Senate approved the plan Sunday night on a 30-21 vote after it passed the House late Friday — when lawmakers think no one is watching — on a 63-35 vote.
Pritzker, who had asked legislators to increase the salaries of 21 appointed agency heads, quickly signed the pay bill. The governor’s salary now increases to $205,700 from $190,700. Pritzker, a billionaire, doesn’t accept his salary. At least the governor commissioned a national salary study of jobs comparable to those of his Cabinet. He said the state’s pay schedule needs to stay competitive with not only the private sector, but other states.
The legislative raises, by the way, come on top of a cost-of-living increase for House and Senate members that kicked in July 1. Looks like lawmakers who drew up their own salary bill just threw some numbers together and came with the pay hikes, which now rank as some of the highest in the nation.
To be fair, the last raise for legislators came in 2008 until an annual cost-ofliving adjustment was adopted a few years ago. Still, the optics don’t look good. Lawmakers surely hope their pay-grab using taxpayer funds will be forgotten by voters when they seek reelection in two or four years hence.
“We don’t want a legislature that’s only made up of the wealthy,” House Majority Leader Greg Harris told Associated Press.
“We want people who can run for office, serve their community, but also be able to pay for their family and kids.”
Said another Chicago Dem, state Sen. Elgie Sims: “We have a citizen legislature, and what we are trying to make sure we accomplish is we have individuals who are the best and the brightest who are serving here.”
Good points, except the job of an Illinois legislator is considered parttime, although quite a few consider it a full-time job. Many House and Senate members, such as attorneys, continue to work full time and indeed are parttime lawmakers.
Maybe with this latest pay increase we’ll see fewer state legislators — those “best and the brightest” Sen. Sims talks about — facing official corruption charges in the coming years.