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PRITZKER
GIVES $100 MILLION IN PAY RAISES TO SOME OF THE NATION’S HIGHEST PAID
STATE WORKERS
Illinois Policy Institute/
Adam Schuster
On his first full day in office, Gov. J.B.
Pritzker announced he will grant costly automatic pay raises to
Illinois’ state workers despite a current budget deficit of more than $1
billion.
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 For one of his first official acts in office, newly elected
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Jan. 15 that he will grant automatic pay
raises – also known as “step increases” – to Illinois state workers. His move
will likely cost state taxpayers around $100 million.
These automatic raises have been frozen for the last four years due to a
contract dispute between former Gov. Bruce Rauner and the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, the state’s largest public sector union.
Pritzker’s decision is prospective only, as it does not affect retroactive
backpay for step increases not granted during Rauner’s tenure. AFSCME claims
that workers are owed backpay for the entire period since the union’s previous
contract expired on June 30, 2015. Rauner’s administration believed no raises
were due after at least Jan. 8, 2016, when the governor declared impasse in
contract negotiations.
Although Pritzker’s announcement included no estimate of the cost of the pay
raises, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, or GOMB, previously
estimated the full year cost of these automatic raises at $200 million for
fiscal year 2019. Since Pritzker’s decision will affect roughly half of the
fiscal year, from January to June, costs are likely to be around $100 million.
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The governor’s move adds a substantial new expense
for a state already struggling to pay its bills and provide core
government services. Illinois’ fiscal year 2019 budget already has a
deficit of more than $1 billion according to GOMB and as much as
$1.5 billion according to previous Illinois Policy Institute
estimates.
Pritzker’s press secretary previously stated that the new
administration will deal with the backpay issue in a way that takes
into consideration the state’s “current fiscal challenges.” If
Pritzker were to grant all backpay and raises claimed by AFSCME, it
would cost the state $546 million in year one, and $1.1 billion over
the next five years, according to GOMB.
Illinois state workers are currently the second-highest paid in the
nation after adjusting for cost of living, according to a Wirepoints
breakdown of data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Prior to the
contract dispute with Rauner, they were the highest paid in the
nation after adjusting for cost of living. Pritzker’s move could
again make them the highest paid state workers in the U.S.
AFSCME endorsed J.B. Pritzker for governor in the 2018 gubernatorial
campaign.
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