New bill would suspend Illinois lawmaker pay during budget impasse

It is wrong that the General Assembly doesn’t have to feel the impact of their actions when they are responsible for other Illinoisans not receiving paychecks.

State Rep. David McSweeney, who already has voluntarily given up his paycheck, filed a bill that would suspend legislator pay during the budget impasse. House Bill 4253 would remove members of the General Assembly from the list of continuing appropriations, forcing legislators to pass a balanced budget before they could receive their paychecks.

Legislators in Springfield are overdue to pass a balanced budget for fiscal year 2016 – fiscal year 2015 ended July 1. State agencies will not be getting checks cut to them on July 15 unless something happens soon.

On July 7, a Cook County judge agreed with the Attorney General Lisa Madigan that in the absence of a state budget, state workers can’t be paid, subject to a narrow exception. But due to a law passed in 2014, members of the General Assembly are still getting paid during the current impasse. Legislator salaries are on a “continuing appropriation,” so they do not have to pass a new budget before they get paid – their salaries are automatically appropriated.

These salaries aren’t chump change, either. Even though the General Assembly only meets part time, lawmakers are raking in between $68,000 and $95,000 for their positions: the fifth-highest legislator salaries in the nation.

It is wrong that the General Assembly doesn’t have to feel the impact of their actions when they are responsible for other Illinoisans not receiving paychecks.