The measure passed without a vote to spare. Some folks even campaigned that they wouldn’t vote to raise taxes, but then after they lost the election they did just that.

Did they have a political epiphany that Illinoisans were under-taxed? Or could it be they heard the siren call of state jobs in the future?

We’ll never know for sure what was going through a particular lawmaker’s mind in the waning minutes of their political careers. But we do know some of these folks the voters took off the state payroll once again were drawing state paychecks.

Just consider:

  • Former state Rep. Bob Flider is the now director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The job pays $133,273. That’s a pretty sweet gig for someone who has never lived on a farm.
  • Former State Rep. Careen Gordon became a lawyer handling real-estate licensing for that state. The job pays $88,200. Gordon left that job in November after Quinn lost his reelection bid.
  • Former State Rep. Mike Smith, who died this year, snagged a job with the Education Labor Relations Board that paid $93,926.

In fact, of the 12 lame-duck legislators who voted for the tax increase at least half ended up with state jobs.

During their final moments in elected office, were they more concerned about their own employment prospects or serving the voters who just kicked them out of office?

We’ll never know for sure what these people were thinking.

But sadly, in Illinois politics, situations like these are all too common.

Illinois shouldn’t have lame duck sessions.

Rarely, do they serve the interests of voters well.

We just finished a quiet lame duck session in Springfield.

Pat Quinn told journalists before the election that he hoped to see lawmakers make the temporary tax hike permanent during the lame duck session.

But that didn’t happen.

Could it be that lawmakers had little incentive to please a governor heading to the unemployment line?

Well, his lame duck legislative agenda died faster than a mallard pumped full of birdshot.

Not only did lawmakers not vote to hike taxes, the House ignored Quinn’s call for raising the minimum wage.

If lawmakers are going to vote on issues such as these, it should be when they are most accountable to the voters, not the least.

That’s why lame-duck sessions should be eliminated.

Four years ago, the temporary tax increase was sold as a way to get the state’s financial house in order.

But it hasn’t worked out.

Despite the state’s staggering debt, Quinn and lawmakers upped spending when they received the extra tax dollars.

Proof once again, that Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue one.

And the legislature functions best when voters can hold them accountable.

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