Illinois Lawmakers Won't Be Getting Paychecks Any Time Soon
By Sarah Gouda in News on Apr 18, 2016 8:28PM
Taking karma into her own hands, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger announced plans to delay the paychecks of the government officials and lawmakers responsible for the state budget impasse. While her office will still process vouchers as usual, the checks will enter the same two-month backlog as all other state payments. "We are all in this together. We will all wait in line," she said in a statement released Sunday.
Munger enacted the "what goes around comes around" measure with the intention of spurring legislative decision-making around the state's budget fiasco. While the withheld salaries amount to $1.3 million (a paltry sum in comparison to the state's massive $6 billion deficit), the move is a wake-up call to the state's six constitutional officers and 177 General Assembly members. As Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan continue to duke it out over the budget, Munger contends that lawmakers' paychecks should be subject to the same delay endured by the nonprofit social service providers and small businesses affected by the government's indecision.
In Sunday's statement, Munger used the current stalemate to justify her decision: "Our social service network is being dismantled, mass layoffs are occurring and small businesses across Illinois are awaiting payments for services they've already provided. As our cash crunch grows in the coming months, it is only appropriate that the unfair prioritization of payments to elected leaders ends."
It should be noted that Munger will go head-to-head against Democrat Susana Mendoza in a special election in November, prompted by the death of former Illinois comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. The decision to withhold legislator's paychecks also functions as a shrewd populist move, garnering Munger much-needed attention during an otherwise quiet election.
The Chicago Tribune reports that opponent Mendoza criticized Munger's actions as "10 months late and many dollars short." She expounded: "Yes, we should not pay elected officials where possible before paying more urgent bills, but when is Comptroller Munger going to stand up to Gov. Rauner and demand an end to his extreme agenda and pass a budget?"
For her part, Munger seems to be attempting just that. She concluded her statement by saying, "if this action helps bring all sides together to pass a balanced budget and end this unnecessary and devastating hardship to our state, that is an added benefit."