July 7, 2010

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reports highlighting Governor’s Office raises topping 20 percent have the media—and the public—up-in-arms.

The Associated Press is reporting that Quinn has awarded salary increases averaging 11.4 percent to 35 staffers in the past 15 months; including a 20 percent, or $24,000, annual increase to the state budget director.

When interviewed by FOX Chicago News, Sen. Radogno noted that, “It’s very difficult to buy this rhetoric that, ‘We need to borrow, we need to have increased revenue,’ when these kind of poor management decisions are going on.”

Governor’s Office raises coincide with recent union pay increases, which were awarded to more than 40,000 workers last week. Since 2009 union employees have received a 7 percent increase, and are scheduled to receive another 7 percent by next July 1—at a cost of at least a half-billion dollars a year.

When asked what impact the salary increases would have on the budget, Radogno noted, “Obviously it’s going to mean we aren’t going to pay our Medicaid providers, other human service providers, the schools, the money that we owe them because it will be eaten up by these pay raises.”

Though the governor insisted he’d cut spending in the Governor’s Office by 25 percent, further analysis of the FOIA report showed that payroll for Quinn’s staff and his budget office had not decreased substantially. In fact, just less 2 percent had been cut. Additional records also showed that a number of employees under the governor’s purview are being paid through other agencies, meaning even the minimal savings that have been identified may have been overstated.