SPRINGFIELD - House Bill 643, Co-Sponsored by Representative Avery Bourne, was signed into law on Wednesday by Governor Bruce Rauner. The bill stops the automatic legislative pay increase scheduled to take effect at the beginning of the fiscal year. In a previous General Assembly, a law was passed that automatically gave legislators an annual raise. Now, each year, legislators must act to stop this raise.
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Bourne was in attendance at the signing ceremony. She has also sponsored similar legislation in each year during her time in the General Assembly. “Illinois has had the slowest wage growth in the nation. It is unacceptable to think that legislators would get an automatic pay increase while most Illinois families haven’t seen a wage increase in years.” Bourne continued, “I was proud to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation that is a step towards holding the line on spending and fighting for the taxpayers in Illinois.”
If the General Assembly and the Governor do not enact a law prohibiting payment of the COLA, this amount will automatically become part of the salary to which members are entitled and paid, even if funding for the salaries and COLA is not appropriated. This automatic compensation was created by SJR 192 through an act of the 86th General Assembly. The last Legislative COLA were funded in FY07.
