Reboot Illinois
Does not extending a voluntary pay cut — in the form of lawmaker furlough days — constitute a raise?That’s become an issue in the wake of the state budget passed May 31. For the last few years, lawmakers have passed bills requiring all representatives and senators to take one unpaid furlough day per month. The tradition started a few years ago when state employees were being asked to do the same to save money in tight budget times.
Lawmakers applied the same rule to themselves in solidarity.
But this year there was no lawmaker furlough bill, so lawmakers will collect an additional $3,100 each.
It’s not a raise, technically. Nor did lawmakers’ salaries, which are defined by state statute, ever officially decrease.
So while this move serves as a de facto pay increase from this past year to next year, it really represents ending the voluntary pay cut lawmakers took a few years ago. Chicago Sun-Times reporter Natasha Korecki touched on that topic in her first answer to three questions about lawmakers ending furlough days.
On the actual vote for a pay increase:
“[Lawmakers] went out of their way to restore a pay cut they had taken a few years ago.”
Lawmakers took the pay cut a few years ago as a way to show they were serious about the gravity of the state’s financial problems.
On if there was any opposition to this move:
“Certainly there were lawmakers who stood up and voted against this. One of them was Jack Franks who we interviewed…he says he just felt like lawmakers didn’t accomplish many of the things that they set out to accomplish this session, including finding a true solution to balancing the budget, and so he didn’t feel like it was right.
On how lawmakers are justifying this move at this time:
“One of the justifications we heard was that if you keep cutting this salary too much, the job is not appealing then to your average person. Only the wealthy can run for these jobs.”
State Journal-Register reporter Doug Finke took a look at the dynamics of the vote, along with how Springfield-area lawmakers are split on what they will do with the extra money.
Writes Finke:
Springfield-area lawmakers are split on what they plan to do with a windfall pay raise they’ll see in the new budget year.
Some said they’ll donate the money to charity, one said he’ll keep it, and another said he hadn’t made up his mind.
At stake is the extra $3,100 minimum that lawmakers will see during the fiscal year that starts July 1. Some will see more than that amount.
The reason is that, after five years, the General Assembly did not vote to continue taking 12 unpaid furlough days during the fiscal year.
All Republicans voted against the bill that did not provide for continued furloughs.
State lawmakers have not had a raise since 2008, when their base salaries were set at the current $67,836. Most earn additional money — ranging from $10,327 to $27,477 — for serving in top committee posts or leadership positions.
For the past several years, though, lawmakers have voted to take 12 unpaid furlough days a year as a gesture showing they understand how serious the state’s financial problems have been. Those unpaid days took $3,119 off the base salary, according tocomptroller’s office records.
The furlough days also cut the amount of the stipends. Committee chairs and the ranking minority party member on each committee each get a stipend of $10,327. The unpaid furlough days cut that to $9,852.
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Brendan Bond is a staff writer at Reboot Illinois. He is a graduate of Loyola University, where he majored in journalism. Brendan takes a look each day at the Land of Lincoln Lowdown and it’s often pretty low. He examines the property tax rates that drive Illinoisans insane. You can findReboot on Facebook and on Twitter @rebootillinois.