What's good for the populace must not be good for the politicians, the Illinois Republican Party said recently in response to Attorney General Lisa Madigan's apparent willingness to give in to a judge's decision on elected officials' paychecks.
The Cook County judge ruled that the officials could not be denied their pay simply because Illinois can't come up with a budget and is billions of dollars in debt. GOP spokesperson Steven Yaffe said Madigan had said earlier that she would appeal the decision, but then decided not to.
“Her priorities are backwards,” Yaffe said. “Lisa Madigan is looking out for the politicians’ pay and not state employees. Instead of immediately announcing she will fight yesterday’s court ruling, as she did in her attempt to stop state employee pay, Lisa Madigan is so far refusing to fight to stop politicians, including herself, her father, and Comptroller Mendoza, from being paid.”
Yaffe was referring to Madigan’s request to the Illinois Supreme Court to review a lower court decision that state workers should continue to be paid despite the lack of a budget. She made the appeal in early March.
The Illinois GOP called the more recent decision to pay politicians a win for Speaker of the House Mike Madigan (Lisa’s father) and “a loss for taxpayers and all those who want a balanced budget.
“Lisa Madigan should announce today that she will file for an immediate stay to stop lawmakers from getting paid until they step up and pass a balanced budget with reform,” Yaffe said.
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