House Bill 5760 would stop lawmakers’ scheduled cost-of-living adjustment. Illinois lawmakers are the fifth-highest paid state lawmakers in the nation.
Former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert had been receiving nearly $30,000 annually from the underfunded General Assembly Retirement System.
In 2010, the unfunded debt related to pensions and retiree health care costs for local and state government workers across Illinois was $203 billion, the equivalent of more than $43,000 per household. In just six years, the total debt Illinois households are on the hook for has jumped to $56,000, or 31 percent. That’s a $13,000 increase for each household. Total unfunded debt for state and local governments in Illinois now totals $267 billion.
Despite being sentenced to 15 months in prison for a financial crime intended to cover up his sexual abuse of high school students, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert will continue to receive $28,000 annual pension payments for his six years as an Illinois state representative.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.