Were Legislative Pay Raises Unconstitutional?
The Illinois House in session May 19. (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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Under state law, members of the Illinois House and Senate are entitled to a Cost of Living Adjustment, or COLA, each year. But after voting themselves raises to a base of $85,000 in January, legislators allowed themselves a COLA in the budget passed last week.
But House Republicans allege the raises are illegal.
The law says COLA’s are limited to 5% or the rate of inflation (which is currently just shy of that number.) The GOP says the raises are around 5.5%. That bumps the base pay to just shy of $90,000 per year.
“This budget is in direct violation of [state law],” said House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna). “You provided for a raise in this budget which is not allowed under the Illinois constitution. You have created a constitutional problem with this budget.”
McCombie argues a raise this large shouldn’t be allowed to take effect until 2025.
We asked a spokesperson for House Speaker Chris Welch for a response Tuesday and she did not respond.
The amount over 5% only totals about $425 or about $35 out of each legislator’s paycheck, but piling raises on top of each other has all of the makings of a PR problem for the Democrats.
