With the election behind them, senators on Thursday gave themselves and other top elected and appointed officials a pay raise of nearly 10 percent.
The move by the state Senate came a day after members approved a dollar-an-hour increase in the state’s minimum wage, an action several lawmakers used to justify fatter wallets for themselves.
“When I fight for a minimum wage increase for everyone else, I need to fight for myself,” said Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), who sponsored the increase in the state’s minimum wage.
The lowest-paid rank-and-file lawmaker would see a $5,524 boost in pay, to $63,143 a year. Legislative leaders would receive a pay hike of $7,762, to $88,719.
“We are underpaid,” said Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago). “If you reject a raise for yourself, you’re saying you’re not worth it. And I don’t know about all of you, but I worked my butt off for the people of the 5th District, and I deserve this little cost-of-living” increase.
Lawmakers say that in recent decades, the General Assembly has become a more full-time, professional operation.
Members convene in Springfield for many weeks from January and into May and briefly again in the fall, but constituent services in their districts often occupy the off months.
The Senate’s action also authorizes pay increases for House lawmakers, the governor, other statewide elected officials, appointed bureaucrats and associate judges. The raises will cost taxpayers $4.4 million.
Under a convoluted process, state law requires both the Senate and House to reject pay increases recommended by the state’s Compensation Review Board to prevent the raises from taking effect.
Senators voted 25-21 to reject the pay recommendations, but 30 votes were needed to block them. Even though House lawmakers rejected the increases last spring before the general election, they will get them anyway.
Some lawmakers who opposed the pay raise said they would take it, while others said they wouldn’t.
Governor to decline raise
A spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he would decline the board-recommended raise of $14,400. His current pay is $150,691 annually.
But spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said the governor might reverse his previous opposition to funding the pay raises.
Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago), a Blagojevich ally who supported higher salaries, did not call the pay raise legislation last spring before the election, saying at the time he was busy with other legislative matters.
He said then that he would hold a vote on the resolution in the fall, post-election veto session, and he followed through on that pledge Thursday.
“The legislature voted, and they felt like they needed a cost-of-living adjustment, just like you get one,” Jones told reporters.
By choosing to vote “present” or not voting at all, another 13 senators were not recorded as taking a formal position on the pay raises–a move that effectively made it easier for the pay increases to take effect.
Hendon told senators that refusing to vote or choosing to vote “present” would have the same effect as voting to approve the pay increase.
“If you’re going to accept the money, don’t be a hypocrite,” Hendon told his colleagues. “Vote to reject or vote `present’ or don’t vote at all, because you know you’re going to accept the money.”
Sen. Dale Risinger (R-Peoria), who voted to reject the raises, said he could not vote to increase his pay when highway engineers and other state workers in professional jobs have not had a cost-of-living raise in four years.
“I cannot go back and look in the eyes of other people in this government that are doing a heck of a job, working hard, saying, `You know what? I got mine, but you can’t get yours.'”
Like many things in Springfield, though, there may be another fight before anyone sees more money in their state paychecks.
Senators are putting together a measure to authorize spending state dollars to fund the pay increases. That legislation also would provide money to fund 3 percent cost-of-living increases for social workers who deal with such issues as family planning, domestic violence and rape prevention, said Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), the Senate’s point man on budget issues.
More debate on the horizon
The question of how the House will deal with the funding bill is still up in the air.
Carol Knowles, a spokeswoman for Comptroller Dan Hynes, who issues state paychecks, said lawmakers must approve the extra money before they can get the extra pay.
Rep. Gary Hannig (D-Litchfield), the budget point man in the House, said he would not accept a pay hike but may take the funds and donate them to a charity if they are approved.
“I would try to demonstrate to the citizens in my district that I was not enriched by the payment,” Hannig said.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said she would accept the higher pay even though she voted against it in the spring.
A lawmaker who accepts a salary increase is playing by the rules that say both chambers must reject the pay hike or it takes effect, Currie said. She said she expects few lawmakers will turn down the extra money.
Still, she said the matter could end up in court if lawmakers authorize the pay increases but refuse to provide the money to fund them.
“I’d be surprised if this were the last chapter,” Currie said.
The pay increase recommendations were the product of the state’s Compensation Review Board, a 12-member panel chosen by lawmakers that makes salary proposals every two years.
The 9.6 percent recommendation was made because lawmakers have not received an annual cost-of-living adjustment since July 1, 2001. The board reasoned that lawmakers should catch up on three annual cost-of-living adjustments they missed out on.
Kevin Forde, chairman of the board, maintained that a refusal to fund even cost-of-living increases is, in effect, a drop in real pay because of inflation.
Even if elected officials want to forgo pay increases, many state workers for whom increases were recommended are bureaucrats who deserve increases in their salaries, Forde said. For example, the pay for the Department of Corrections director will increase more than $11,600, to $139,834.
The Senate’s action also boosts the salary of Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine to $173,887 from $167,521. It raises the salary of associate judges by about $2,700, to $145,283, putting their pay at 95 percent of circuit judges.
– – –
How senators voted on pay hike
Here is how Illinois senators voted on a resolution to reject an increase in the salaries of state officials, lawmakers and associate judges.
Voting “yes” on the resolution was a vote against the pay raise. Voting “no” on the resolution was a vote for the pay raise. Senators voted 25-21 for the resolution but 30 votes were needed to block the pay raises from taking effect.
Democrats voting yes (7):
Crotty, Oak Forest; Demuzio, Carlinville; Forby, Benton; Garrett, Lake Forest; Haine, Alton; Schoenberg, Evanston; and Sullivan, Rushville.
Republicans voting yes (18):
Althoff, McHenry; Axley, Mt. Prospect; Bomke, Springfield; Brady, Bloomington; Burzynski, Clare; Cronin, Elmhurst; Dahl, Granville; John Jones, Mt. Vernon; Lauzen, Aurora; Luechtefeld, Okawville; Peterson, Long Grove; Radogno, Lemont; Righter, Charleston; Risinger, Peoria; Rutherford, Chenoa; Syverson, Rockford; Watson, Greenville; and Winkel, Champaign.
Democrats voting no (19):
Clayborne, East St. Louis; Cullerton, Chicago; del Valle, Chicago; DeLeo, Chicago; Halvorson, Crete; Harmon, Oak Park; Hendon, Chicago; Jacobs, East Moline; Emil Jones, Chicago; Lightford, Maywood; Link, Vernon Hills; Meeks, Chicago; Munoz, Chicago; Raoul, Chicago; Ronen, Chicago; Sandoval, Chicago; Shadid, Peoria; Silverstein, Chicago; and Trotter, Chicago.
Republicans voting no (2):
Geo-Karis, Zion; and Wendell Jones, Palatine.
Democrats voting present (3):
Maloney, Chicago; Viverito, Burbank; and Wilhelmi, Joliet.
Republicans voting present (3):
Dillard, Hinsdale; Petka, Plainfield; and Sieben, Geneseo.
Democrats not voting (3):
Collins, Chicago; Hunter, Chicago; and Martinez, Chicago.
Republicans not voting (4):
Millner, Carol Stream; Pankau, Itasca; Rauschenberger, Elgin; and Roskam, Wheaton.
———-
rlong@tribune.com
