Timing made Cook County Board’s midnight pay raises outrageous. It was not the time of day that was most objectionable, however. It was the time of the month-Nov. 30.
County commissioners waited until after they had faced voters on election day to vote themselves 19 percent pay raises. The lame-duck board waited to jack up their salaries until voters had no chance to protest effectively. Board members figure that most voters will forget about the pay raise by the time of the next election.
If board members truly believe they have earned a 19 percent raise (they’ll be paid more than state legislators), let them vote for it honorably-before the election. Let them explain their vote before the election and let voters decide whether to re-elect them.
Unfortunately, sneaky pay raises are nothing new in this state. The most notorious lame-duck pay rise in Illinois history came in 1978, when the General Assembly voted itself a 40 percent raise just after the election.
That spectacle inspired the most successful initiative in state history as 10,000 people passed petitions to put the cutback amendment on the 1980 ballot. Voters jumped at the chance to eliminate 59 legislators in one fell swoop.
