Senator Nybo votes to block lawmakers' pay raises

SPRINGFIELD – State Sen. Chris Nybo (R-Elmhurst) joined with his Senate colleagues Aug. 5 to overwhelmingly reject a cost-of-living pay increase for state lawmakers.

As the state budget gridlock continues into its second month, Sen. Nybo and his Senate colleagues voted 49-2 against a two percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for state lawmakers during the current fiscal year.

“Our state leaders must learn to live with a budget that does not spend more money than it takes in, and that will require sacrifices from everyone. It is unconscionable for lawmakers to consider any kind of a pay raise when so many in Illinois are struggling,” Nybo said. “After years of ‘tax-and-spend’ government, we must return to principles of accountability and responsibility to get our state back on track.”

Due to the way state law is written, the General Assembly receives an automatic COLA each year, unless the members vote to deny it. While these automatic pay bumps had been rejected over the last six years, this year the Democrat-controlled legislature allowed the automatic pay increase to take effect.

Legislative Republicans and the Governor had repeatedly called for the COLAs to be removed, citing the state’s serious fiscal woes—a problem exacerbated by the lack of a Fiscal Year 2016 budget plan. The House voted to reject the legislative pay increases July 28.

House Bill 576 eliminates all Fiscal Year 2016 pay raises for members of the General Assembly, state’s attorneys, elected constitutional officers, agency directors, and other state officials whose pay is set by the Compensation Review Board. The measure also freezes per diem and mileage reimbursements rates for lawmakers at their current level.

The legislation now moves to the Governor’s desk for consideration.