CHICAGO – "It's all about clean hands," a group of Republican lawmakers is complaining Monday, and the Illinois Democrats that filed a lawsuit last week to get their paychecks from State Comptroller Leslie Munger simply "don't have them."
The lawsuit six state representatives filed last week sues on behalf of all the state lawmakers affected by Munger's policy of "No budget, No pay," but those six are a part of the reason why no state budget has been passed, and why they're not getting their paychecks.
"In order to be worthy to file the lawsuit, those filing must be worthy of asking, and they have not complied with the statutory requirements" to pass a balanced state budget Illinois Review was told by a source that wanted to remain anonymous.
The whole lawsuit could be up for grabs since Munger's successor, Susana Mendoza, was sworn in as the new comptroller Monday. Although Mendoza campaigned on a "No budget, no pay" platform that promised to continue Munger's policy, questions are now being raised about what she and the judge will do with a new Democrat comptroller taking over.
Will he order the new comptroller to pay after a possibly lengthy court case, or will the Democrats file for an immediate injunction to rush the policy change through quickly?
Without an agreed up budget, the state of Illinois' budget is now functioning due to court rulings, consent degrees and a stop-gap budget that is scheduled to expire December 31.
"The House members must comply with their required duties or they have no standing to file a complaint about not getting their paychecks – in other words, they don't have 'clean hands' required," and that position could soon be filed in court.
This is the problem with having long-term “professional” politicians in the legislature. Some have been re-elected so many times, with little or NO opposition, they believe they OWN their seats in the House and Senate, and have no outside sources (LEGAL sources, that is) of income.
Our governments, both state and federal, were not intended to provide long-term jobs for professional politicians, but have become so.