State Representative Avery Bourne
(R-Raymond) has joined with colleagues from the Illinois House of
Representatives urging Comptroller Mendoza to continue supporting the principle
of “No Budget, No Pay”. The Legislators
are requesting that the newly-elected Comptroller continue the delayed payment
of legislator salaries. This delay was
enacted as a response to the lack of budget and put lawmakers’ payments in line
with payments to all others owed by the State of Illinois.
“We are asking the
Comptroller to continue to live up to her promise of 'no budget, no pay',” said
Bourne. “Politicians should not get preferential treatment over social service
agencies and vendors.” Currently, the wait for payment is six months or longer
and the State’s backlog of bills totals over $11 billion.
The letter to Comptroller Mendoza is signed by numerous Republican
House Members and reads as follows:
“We applaud you for supporting the principle of “No Budget No Pay”
with regard to state payment of legislator salaries and for following through
on your promise to keep the policy in place upon taking office. We also
appreciate your service to the people of Illinois as a former State
Representative and look forward to working with you in your new role as our
State Comptroller during these challenging times for our state.
On December 2, 2016, six of our Democratic colleagues filed a
lawsuit against then-Comptroller Leslie Munger for delaying payment of
legislator salaries. While we understand that they are making a legal argument
that legislators and other state elected officials are required to be paid, we
believe that there is a compelling counter legal argument that the members of
the Illinois General Assembly should not be paid. We as members of the General
Assembly have the ability to resolve the budget situation and we therefore bear
a strong degree of responsibility that the Comptroller does not have the funds
to meet the state’s obligations. It is also important to note that
legislative pay is only being delayed, not suspended.
Our empathy lies entirely with the hardships the budget impasse
has had on vendors, social service providers and others who rely upon the state
to meet its financial obligations. The lives of these individuals and families
are being irreparably harmed and businesses are literally being destroyed by
the present budget situation. We do not believe that payment of
legislator salaries should be prioritized over the funding of health care and
social service providers or others enduring the long delay in state payments.
Due to the fact that the Attorney General has a conflict of
interest, we strongly advise the Comptroller to use Independent Counsel to
defend itself against the lawsuit
filed by the six Democratic legislators earlier this month. Thank you for your
consideration and attention to this matter.”
