Madigan files, passes bill to nix lawmaker pay raises after blocking similar bill for weeks

Amid the eighth week without a state budget, Illinois political gamesmanship rages on.

UPDATE: The Illinois Senate on Aug. 5 passed House Bill 576 by a 49-2 vote. The bill now sits on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk.

Is the most powerful man in Illinois politics finally listening to the public? Not really, but the story surrounding struggles to stop his pay raise is intriguing.

House Speaker Mike Madigan, D-Chicago, filed an amendment to House Bill 576 on July 28 to stop cost-of-living raises for lawmakers totaling between $1,300 and $1,900. The Illinois House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 101-1 shortly after.

“This bill is just another effort to meet the governor halfway,” Madigan said on the House floor.

But the move appears to be an empty play for political points in the wake of bad press and a frustrated public, as Madigan has been blocking Republican legislation to do the same for weeks.

House Bill 4225, filed in May by state Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, would have stopped lawmaker pay raises for the current fiscal year. The bill was deliberately stalled in the Madigan-controlled Rules Committee.

When state Rep. Ron Sandack, R-Downers Grove, requested multiple times that the bill be discharged from the committee so it may be heard, the Madigan-appointed chairperson ruled Sandack was out of order, dashing any hopes of a vote.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has also given the General Assembly a chance to stop their own pay raises.

The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1354 – a budget bill – on June 26. One week later, on July 1, the governor issued an amendatory veto that would OK the budget bill if the General Assembly accepted additional language that would prohibit the raises, as well as increases to their per diem payments for when they are in session.

But those changes were not accepted by the General Assembly, and the bill died.

Illinoisans would be wise to keep in mind why Madigan’s bill is even necessary in the first place. It’s because of legislation pushed by Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton last year ensuring lawmaker salaries, operating expenses and pay increases would be allocated through a “continuing appropriation,” meaning they must be specifically prohibited for a given year for the payments to stop.

While essential reforms are left unaddressed and budget talks remain at a standstill, state lawmakers are still enjoying some of the most generous pay and benefits in the nation.

In another interesting wrinkle to the story, the Chicago Tribune’s Kristen McQuery noted that Senate President John Cullerton said last week that the raises could not have been avoided, saying “lawmakers can return the money.”

Luckily, it behooves the House speaker to think otherwise.