During the recent budget impasse, residents were inundated with stories of
anguish throughout the state. And while a stopgap budget has answered some cries
for help, the Land of Lincoln remains mired in sluggish growth, high taxes and
low expectations.
But a select few Illinoisans have shielded themselves from the pain they’ve
inflicted upon others: state politicians.
Despite failing to pass a balanced budget or any significant economic reforms
for more than a year, state lawmakers the week of July 4 received paychecks and
per diem money. This was the first check lawmakers had seen since Comptroller
Leslie Munger temporarily threw lawmaker salaries into the state’s $8 billion
pile of unpaid bills three months ago.
State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, must have breathed a sigh of
relief.
On June 30, Lightford took to the floor of the Illinois Senate to complain that
the state wasn’t taking sufficient care of lawmakers such as herself.
“I’m hoping the comptroller will decide and recognize that we’re not vendors,
that we’re actually employees of this body and deserve to be paid,” she said.
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More than 1 million people have viewed the footage of Lightford’s tone-deaf
defense of a privileged political class on Facebook. The video’s popularity
speaks to Illinoisans’ sense of fairness. After the mess they’ve made, Illinois
politicians are lucky to receive a paycheck at all, much less cut in line.
Illinois lawmakers earn base salaries of nearly $68,000 for what is essentially
part-time work. Lightford took home more than $88,000 in 2015. She also received
health care benefits worth more than $9,500, and racked up $16,000 more in
taxpayer-funded pension benefits for when she retires.
In the wake of Lightford’s gaffe, the question remains: Why were lawmakers
getting paid without passing a budget?
Ask House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton.
In 2014, Madigan and Cullerton rammed a bill through the General Assembly
ensuring lawmakers would get paid with or without a budget. They did this by
exempting lawmaker salaries, operating expenses and pay increases from the
annual appropriations process. In other words, these payments became “continuing
appropriations.” The bill did three things.
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 First, it meant that those items must be specifically prohibited
to stop the money from flowing to politicians. Second, those items
would not be affected by the lack of a state budget. And third,
year-to-year cuts to lawmaker salaries and operating expenses would
be prohibited.
Then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed off.
No other office or agency of Illinois state government has these
sorts of privileges. Continuing appropriations are typically
reserved for things such as pension payments, debt payments and
interest payments.
Madigan and Cullerton’s power play serves as an important case study
in political priorities. Why didn’t they extend these privileges to
the groups crying out for help during the budget impasse?
Simple: State politicians knew their own bottom lines could soon be
on the chopping block. So they took them off the bargaining table.
If only other groups, including taxpayers, had been so lucky.
But Illinoisans aren’t just being forced to pay politicians’
salaries. They’re also bailing out political pensions. In 2017,
taxpayers will contribute the equivalent of nearly $123,000 per
lawmaker in pension costs alone.
The average career lawmaker’s pension totals nearly $96,000 a year,
and state lawmakers can retire and start drawing pension benefits
from the General Assembly Retirement System, or GARS, after as few
as eight years in office.
Those who have taken full advantage of Illinois’ lack of term limits
will collect 85 percent of their final salary after 20 years of
service. Lawmakers elected after 2011 max out at 60 percent.
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As has been the case in many matters of state governance, Illinois
lawmakers have proven inept at managing their own retirements. GARS
has a mere 16 cents for every dollar needed to pay out future
benefits, and taxpayers are bailing it out by contributing 17 times
more money than lawmakers do toward GARS.
It’s not exactly a shared sacrifice.
If state lawmakers are serious about taking action to alleviate the
pain facing Illinoisans, they should start by looking in the mirror.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly should end pensions for
politicians once and for all. And a pay cut would send an equally
powerful message. Their job performance demands as much.
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