The Illinois Lieutenant Governor Patt Quinn made a proposal Wednesday that appeals to common sense: to amend the constitution so that lawmakers don’t automatically get payraises.

To be more specific, the proposal would make the legislators have to vote themselves a payraise, within 30 days, if they want to get them, and those who did not approve them would not get the salary increase.

This proposal, however, will probably not get anywhere, because both the senate and the house have to approve it before voters get their say on it.

This means that Illinoisans will still continue to see the legislators put off their meetings so they can passively get their payraise, and avoid a backlash in the polls.   There is also the possibility that next year’s budget will have a deficit so large that the legislator’s payraises cannot be included in it, like we saw this year.

Click link below: “Chicago Tribune” to read the article.

Quinn wants lawmakers to vote for pay raises to get them

by Monique Garcia.

 August 20, 2008 4:20 p.m