State board recommends no pay raises; officials get one anyway

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Many state officeholders will get a raise this summer despite a vote Wednesday by the state Compensation Review Board to recommend no raises except for associate circuit court judges.

A 1990 change in state law means that hundreds of statewide officeholders, legislators and judges get a 3.8 percent cost-of-living increase July 1 even as the state is laying off workers in the midst of its worst budget crisis in years.

The review board, which every two years revises and recommends changes to salaries for constitutional officers, lawmakers and judges, sends its report to Springfield Friday.

It recommends a 1.9 percent pay increase for associate judges, to $129,719, and adds a 3 percent state contribution to what judges pay to their retirement plans.

State's ability to pay

One of the criteria the board must follow in determining whether raises are justified -- the state's ability to pay -- was a major factor, board attorney Robert Huguelet said.

Gov. George Ryan and lawmakers have been wrestling over where to find $1 billion to shore up the state budget, hit hard by a weakened economy and lower-than-expected revenues.

The board's recommendations take effect unless both houses of the General Assembly vote to reject them. That happened two years ago after the board's recommended raises caused a firestorm.

And it led the board this year to suggest that its biennial salary review be moved to non-election years, starting next year, Huguelet said.

Timing considered

"Consideration of the report may be better by the General Assembly if it didn't have to consider it in the politically charged or emotionally charged atmosphere of an election year," he said.

But Senate Democratic Leader Emil Jones believes it will face the same scrutiny regardless of when it's released. "There's going to be scrutiny and criticism no matter what year they issue that report; to change it, it doesn't really make a difference," Jones spokeswoman Cindy Huebner said.

Staff for Ryan, who earns $150,700, recommended in earlier testimony before the board that neither the governor nor his Cabinet members should get raises, which was the sentiment elsewhere.

House Republican spokeswoman Vicky Crawford called a raise for lawmakers in a budget crisis "unconscionable," and spokesmen for both GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan and Democrat Rod Blagojevich said the board made the correct decision.

Judicial organizations suggested the board consider the pay raise for associate circuit judges to bring them to within 95 percent of circuit judge salaries, Huguelet said. Associate judges, who are appointed by the popularly elected circuit judges, may handle felony cases only with approval from the chief circuit judge.

The pension change reduces judges' contribution from a maximum of 11 percent to 8 percent, with the 3 percent contribution. It increases judges' take-home pay, but it doesn't increase state contributions to benefits such as Medicare that would come with a gross salary increase, Huguelet said.