SPRINGFIELD – As thousands of state vendors wait months for payments in Illinois, and residents suffer under the highest unemployment rate in the region, state politicians filed a lawsuit over the timeliness of their paychecks, Illinois Policy Institute's Austin Berg writes Friday.
Democratic state Reps. Kate Cloonen, Mary Flowers, Sonya Harper, Lisa Hernandez, Silvana Tabares and Emmanuel Chris Welch filed the suit against Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger.
Berg writes:
Illinois lawmakers most recently received paychecks in September for their work in the spring, according to the Daily Herald. In April, Munger threw lawmaker salaries in with the rest of the state’s bill backlog, which now totals $10 billion. The suit cites a provision in state law that says members of the General Assembly “shall be paid in 12 equal monthly installments.”
Illinois politicians aren’t used to being treated like ordinary Illinoisans.
Lawmakers earn base salaries of nearly $68,000 for what is essentially part-time work. When health care, dental care and pension benefits are included, taxpayers cough up an average of $100,000 per active Illinois lawmaker.
And yet, in addition to the recent lawsuit, some lawmakers have made public complaints about not receiving their pay on time.
