Seriously? Illinois Lawmakers Are Getting Another Pay Raise

Regardless of how your own personal finances are faring, you, as a proud Illinois citizen, should be happy and grateful to know that Illinois' governor, JB Pritzker, put pen-to-page a couple of days back, and gave raises to Illinois lawmakers.

Again. For the second time this year.

For those who don't recall, the raise that was given to Illinois lawmakers back in January was a 17% raise, which translated to about $12,000, making the average annual salary about $85,000.  Now, the governor's gone on to sign the latest Illinois budget, and that gives state lawmakers a "cost of living" raise of 5.5%, which takes base salaries to around $90,000 per year.

With This Latest Pay Raise For Illinois Lawmakers, Illinois' Politicians Are Now The 4th-Highest Paid State Lawmakers In The Entire Country--Not Bad For A Part-Time Job

Especially when you compare Illinois lawmakers pay with that of a couple of our Midwestern neighbors, Iowa and Missouri. Their lawmakers are getting by on less than $40,000 per year in pay. Much less, in Iowa's case.

NewsChannel20.com:

Ted Dabrowski, with the Illinois Nonprofit Wirepoints, spoke with our reporter Mackenzie LaPorte and touched on how this pay raise was a problem.

"Most citizens don't know what's going on, but they should be outraged. They should be outraged, that lawmakers are getting $90,000 a year, for part-time work, where they are making a mess of whatever they touch," said Dabrowski.

Let's Take A Look At What Other States Are Paying Their State Lawmakers Per Year

I mentioned that with this latest raise, Illinois lawmakers are the 4th highest-paid state politicians in the United States, but who are the three states that are paying their people more?

1. California: $119,702
2. New York: $110,000
3. Pennsylvania: $95,432

And here's what our neighboring Midwestern states are paying their lawmakers:

• Wisconsin: $55,141
• Iowa: $25,000
• Indiana: $28,791
• Michigan: $71,685
• Minnesota: $46,500
• Missouri: $36,813
• Kentucky: $188.22 per calendar day