Legislators get a raise as budget impasse threatens pay for state workers

The Illinois Senate on Wednesday approved a $2.26 billion, temporary budget that Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed, as he has repeatedly promised to do.

The partisan impasses leaves Illinois without a budget for the fiscal year, which already began two weeks ago.

State workers were paid Wednesday for their first two weeks of work under the fiscally rudderless Illinois government. In the meantime, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is checking with the state's Supreme Court to see if continuing to do so is kosher with the state constitution.

What if the justices say no? Some 64,500 Illinoisans will just have to go without pay. We strongly suspect there would follow a proportional reduction in the level of services they and their respective agencies offer.

So we'll all suffer to some measure. Unless, of course, you're an elected member of the state legislature, the origin of all that rolls downhill. They somehow avoid being sullied, other than by reputation.

At an average rate of $67,836 per year, Illinois lawmakers are among the best paid in the United States. Some make as much as $95,000 to go with a $111 per diem and travel reimbursement.

Last year, Senate Bill 274 was passed during the spring session and signed into law by then-Gov. Pat Quinn. The measure guarantees that salaries for legislators will be funded on a continuing basis, with or without a budget. They had the further audacity to vote themselves a pay raise in advance of the current budget stalemate.

Kudos to State Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) for refusing any pay for the duration of the impasse and to any of his colleagues who follow suit.

Frankly, it's the least they can do.

Because lost in the political posturing and Springfield's requisite finger pointing, is that nobody — not House Speaker Michael Madigan, not Senate President John Cullerton, not Gov. Rauner — has proposed any budget that closes even part of state's $4 billion budget deficit.

In other words, those complicit in this embarrassing mess are going to get paid more for not doing their job, and state workers who want to do theirs may not get paid at all.

If you really want to blame one side of the political aisle or the other, you probably don't understand the problem. Until some compromise can be made and until those elected get to work on behalf of the people rather than a paycheck, Illinoisans will continue to suffer.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Legislators get a raise as budget impasse threatens pay for state workers."