Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza wants to clear something up: state lawmakers will not be receiving pay raises.
“Some state legislators seem to think they’ll be getting a pay raise this year. The answer is no, they won’t,” Mendoza says in a new video released by her office.
“So when you hear false rumors or assumptions that Comptroller Mendoza will have to pay legislators more this year, you tell them you heard it straight from the person whose job it is to cut the checks in Illinois: Legislator raises this year will be zero,” she says in the video’s conclusion.
The video message was prompted by ongoing confusion and misinformation among lawmakers and the public over whether or not lawmakers gave themselves a pay raise, or a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget they approved Memorial Day weekend.
Although these raises are included in the budget by law every year, this year lawmakers voted to dedicate zero dollars to raises – which means they will not receive raises, Mendoza said.
“…the General Assembly voted to make the COLA zero, and I’m glad because it’s the right thing to do, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis that has really hit our state budget hard,” Mendoza says.
***Report Courtesy of the Illinois State Comptroller***
