Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has suspended lawmakers pay until the legislature acts on pension reform.
Quinn made the announcement Wednesday morning from the Thompson Center in Chicago. The Governor says he has acted on some additional key parts of the state budget, but will not approve the appropriation for lawmakers pay until they provide him with a pension reform bill. Quinn is using his line-item veto power in a budget bill (HB 214) that's on his desk. The bill gives the state comptroller the ability to issue paychecks to state employees. Lawmakers would have to approve his changes.
Locally, State Representative John Bradley (D-Marion) thinks the Governor's move is purely political, and has nothing to do with pension reform.
“Well, this is all about us passing concealed carry. You know, he’s mad about us passing concealed carry yesterday. This appears to be sour grapes to me.”
A long-time expert on Illinois Politics, John Jackson with the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, calls Governor Quinn's action "symbolic politics" that will not have any impact on the General Assembly. Jackson says Quinn's mentor, former Governor Dan Walker did some of the same kind of pressure tactics against the General Assembly in the early 1970's. He says it didn't work then and it won't work now.
There are some concerns regarding the legality of Quinn's action. Article 4 section 11 of the Illinois Constitution prohibits lawmakers pay from being changed during the term for which they were elected. Bradley says he believes the move is unconstitutional, but says lawmakers will keep working on issues that must be solved.
Two members of a bipartisan committee working to fix Illinois' $97 billion pension problem say Gov. Pat Quinn cutting legislator pay won't help the process. Sen. Matt Murphy is a Palatine Republican and member of the 10-person panel. He called Quinn's actions Wednesday a "stunt" and says they could inflame an already difficult situation. Rep. Elaine Nekritz is a Northbrook Democrat and the committee's vice chairwoman. She says the pay cut does "nothing to move us toward a solution" and is "an unnecessary distraction." Both lawmakers say committee members want the problem solved soon but need more time to get a workable solution.
Quinn cut $13.8 million for lawmaker pay from a budget bill. He says it's the consequence for lawmakers missing another deadline he'd set to address the problem. The Governor's announcement comes a day after he said there'd be consequences for lawmakers who didn't send him a pension overhaul bill by Tuesday's deadline.
The governor has until July 15 to sign the state budget. The fiscal year began July 1.
