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 Springfield lawmakers gave
themselves a $2,700 raise in the 2023 Illinois state budget, increasing their
annual salary to the fourth-highest among legislators nationwide.
The salary hike is in the record $46.5 billion budget signed April 19 by Gov.
J.B. Pritzker. It marks the third time lawmakers have given themselves a raise
and Pritzker’s approved it since he took office. In total, lawmakers’ base
salaries have increased 8% under Pritzker, and they will be earning a minimum
$73,345 a year when the new budget starts July 1. The U.S.
average for state lawmaker pay is $34,348 – less than half of the Illinois pay,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many state
legislatures are part-time, while the Illinois General Assembly is closer to
full-time.
On top of their No. 4 in the nation salaries, Illinois lawmakers receive $151
each day the legislature is in session, along with a travel reimbursement.
Lawmakers are given an additional stipend for serving in party leadership roles
or leading committees, worth between $10,000 to nearly $30,000 per year.
Here’s a review of their job performance.
 Not only did lawmakers
vote to give themselves a raise when Pritzker became governor in 2019, but they
increased their salaries twice while the Illinois government was reliant on
temporary federal pandemic relief dollars to stay afloat. Despite billions in
stimulus propping up the economy, politicians still managed to pass an
unbalanced budget for the 21st consecutive year.
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Boasting the nation’s highest state and local tax
rates, second-highest property taxes, second-highest gas tax and
nation-leading pension debt, Illinois saw the most residents move
out of any state in 2021.
Illinois also has the worst credit rating in the nation and was the
only state forced to rely on emergency borrowing from the federal
reserve to keep its finances afloat during the pandemic. That is
because two decades of overpromising by politicians has left
Illinois with $317 billion in pension debt.
Even with billions in federal pandemic relief, Illinoisans now pay
an average $680 more each year in taxes compared to before Pritzker
took office.
Illinois state lawmakers during the Pritzker years gave themselves
over 8% raises for jobs left undone: an inadequate effort to stop
employer tax hikes for the unemployment trust fund, no movement on
reforming state pensions, $2,165 in new taxes even after the
temporary, election-year tax breaks are subtracted, the Midwest’s
highest unemployment rate with 154,500 jobs still missing since the
pandemic, and the state’s largest budget ever that is projected to
become Illinois’ 21st consecutive deficit budget.
Raises typically come for a job well done. Illinois lawmakers’ job
performance seems more worthy of pink slips.
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