by Kristina Rasmussen

In March, Illinois state senators voted to freeze their salaries and forfeit twelve days of pay. The bill is awaiting concurrence in the House.

According to the NCSL, Illinois state legislators will earn a base salary of $67,836 in 2012, along with a $111 per diem for each session day. Members of the Illinois legislature are among the highest-paid in the country.

It's never been easy to find specific information on legislator pay on the Internet, as the state's accountability portal does not include General Assembly salaries in its employee pay database.

Thankfully, the Comptroller's new transparency website, The Ledger, provides this elusive information. I've pasted data from 2011 below.

Largely because of pay bonuses that come with leadership positions, the average salary for representatives who were on payroll through the end of 2011 was $71,662 (keep in mind this includes some representatives who started mid-year). In comparison, median household income in Illinois is $55,735 according to the Census.