Illinois Bankrupt, Gives Raises to Staff Anyway
Illinois
The state of Illinois is nearly bankrupt. For years, the state has spent beyond its means and ignored its unpaid bills and obligations. Illinois currently faces a budget deficit of $14-15 Billion and total debt of around $140 Billion.
Paralyzed by the worst deficit in its history, the state has fallen months behind in paying what it owes to businesses and organizations, pushing some of them to the edge of bankruptcy.
Illinois isn’t bothering with the formality of issuing IOUs, as California did last year. It simply doesn’t pay.
Plenty of states face major deficits as the recession continues. They’re cutting services or raising taxes or expanding gambling to close the gap. But Illinois is taking the extra step of ignoring bills.
Right now, $4.4 billion worth of bills, some dating back to October, are sitting in the Illinois comptroller’s office waiting to be paid someday.
In spite of all that, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has handed out raises — some of more than 20 percent — to his staff.
The Democrat has given 43 salary increases averaging 11.4 percent to 35 staffers in the past 15 months, according to an Associated Press analysis of records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
They include a $24,000-a-year bump for the man promoted to shepherd the state through the fiscal storm. Budget Director David Vaught got a 20 percent raise to bring his pay to $144,000 in October when he moved to his new position from Quinn’s staff, where he was a senior adviser.
More reading:
AP: Ill governor gives staff big raises
My cousin is a teacher in Chicago. They just laid off MANY MANY teachers, increasing class sizes to 37 children per class. She is hopping mad, afraid for her job, and frustrated with the system for botching up the finances so badly they “can’t afford” the teachers they need.
This guy is weird- raises are all very nice but what about the rest of the people who are definitely going to suffer from unemployment. This guy and the government as such are a shame for the American nation.