|
|
|
PAY BOOST
|
A candidate for state representative in the northwest suburbs is using the possible pay hikes for lawmakers as one of his campaign themes. Robert Kaempfe, Democratic candidate for State Representative in the 64th District says the Illinois Compensation Review Board has once again recommended hefty pay boosts for state legislators and other elected official that will go into effect automatically unless the Legislature takes action to overrule the Board. Kaempfe, believes the system is broken and needs to be fixed. While the Review Board is doing their job of drafting recommendations on pay levels, Kaempfe maintains that the problem lies in the law which allows legislators to receive pay raises without taking responsibility for them. He says the pay raises can be stopped only if legislators vote to reject them. If they do nothing the raises go into effect he notes. Kaempfe says "this gives your state legislatures an out by letting them be able to say, I didn’t vote myself a pay raise."
Kaempfe pointed out that the current recommendation for legislators is an 11.7% raise. In his comments, Kaempfe explained that “while the price of gasoline is nuts, food prices soaring, and homes being foreclosed, citizens are not seeing nearly 12% boosts in their pay checks.” He plans to introduce legislation to require that both the Illinois House and Senate vote positively to affirm recommendations by the Compensation Review Board.
In addition, the current law makes the proposed pay raises all or nothing. Kaempfe’s proposed legislation would allow the legislature to revise recommended pay raises down, but not up. If the Board recommends 11.7% but the legislators do not believe the full amount is justified, affordable, or reflective of the wishes of the citizens, they could lower the increase by any amount rather than just rejecting in total. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
