In the News

Chicago Sun-Times, May 1, 2008

By Associated Press

Fresh off a hefty pay increase last year, state legislators are in line for another raise -- and they'll have the final say this time on whether they and other top officials get the extra cash.

Under a recommendation from the state's Compensation Review Board, lawmakers would see their base salary jump by more than $7,000 -- to nearly $73,000 a year -- by next summer. Pay for legislative leaders would top more than $100,000.

Gov. Blagojevich could get a pay raise of more than $20,000 -- bringing his salary to more than $190,000 a year.

The recommendation comes after legislators' pay went up nearly 10 percent last year.

Some lawmakers already are promising to block the raises, citing the poor economy and the recent salary bump.

''How can we justify giving ourselves any kind of a raise? It sends the wrong message, the complete wrong message,'' Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) said Wednesday.

But blocking the increases could be tricky. Rather than require legislators to vote to approve any pay increases, state law sets up a system where Compensation Review Board recommendations are automatically adopted -- unless legislators vote to block them.

Republicans in both the House and Senate have moved to reject the increases the board recommended on March 31. Garrett promised to do the same in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said the House traditionally has voted to block pay raises.

The board issues recommendations in even-numbered years -- which are also election years. Legislators have rejected them six times, including from 2000 through 2004.

The latest recommendation calls for constitutional officers, top executive branch officials and lawmakers to get cost-of-living increases for 2006, 2007 and 2009, along with small salary increases over the next two years: 1.5 percent a year for judges, state's attorneys and executive branch officials and 1 percent a year for legislators.

The board said the cost-of-living increases were especially needed because every year they are skipped amounts to a pay cut.

The House and Senate didn't agree to block the raises in 2006. But officials didn't actually get the extra money until last summer, when the governor OKd a measure that included cash to cover the raises.

Lawmakers could bypass the increases by just not putting money in the next budget for them, though the board urged them to reduce, rather than reject, the recommended amounts.