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Waste Watch: Legislative Committee Pay
State lawmakers
make about $65,000 a year for a job many of you think is part time. But that’s
not all you pay them. If a lawmaker is a chairman or a spokesman for a
committee, he or she can get an extra $10,000. The problem taxpayers have with
that is some committees rarely meet.
It's a common sign
at the statehouse. No committee hearing scheduled. But taxpayers still pay.
Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson was the chair of the Armed Forces and Military
Affairs Committee last year. It met just two times. He received a stipend of
about $10,000.
"Two times is
not enough,” Jackson, a Democrat, said. “Going forward, I hope, my committee
meets several different times.”
Documents show in
2012, a dozen committees met four times or less. Rep. Cynthia Soto
got about $10,000 to chair the Mass Transit Committee, which met
three times.
"If it met
three times, that's what it was scheduled,” Soto, a Democrat, said. “I guess,
that is what it was scheduled for. Is it fair? It isn't and I think we need to
have more meetings."
In the House,
Speaker Michael Madigan decides how many committees there are and who chairs
them. Each committee also has a minority spokesman, a Republican. That's a position
that also comes with a roughly $10,000 stipend.
We talked with Madigan's spokesman, Steve Brown. We asked him why the state of New York can
operate with 37 committees, but Illinois, a smaller state, has to have
45.
"I can only
assume that's what legislators in that state decided,” Brown said. “I don't
know enough about New York to comment specifically."
Lawmakers are only
entitled to one stipend, whether it's for being the chair or minority spokesman
for a committee or in a leadership position. The range is about $10,000 to
$26,000.
Sen. Sam McCann,
a Republican, said there is not much that goes on at the statehouse that is
fair to taxpayers. We asked him if he would give the $10,000 back.
"You know, I
actually give that money--I'm out in my district quite a bit,” McCann, a
Republican, said. “All the time. I think if you follow me on Facebook you will
see I am out in the district. I have nine counties. Now I have 11. I put that
stipend toward buying fuel and supporting causes around my district and I am
proud to do that."
The Illinois
Policy Institute, a government think tank, says the committee stipends are a
waste.
"When they signed up for this position, it was to go be in
committees, it was to be in leadership,” spokesman Matt Paprocki said. “We don't think
you should get extra money or revenue from actually fulfilling your job
responsibilities."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 30
states don’t pay lawmakers anything for committee work.
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WEB EXTRAS:
Raw interview with Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson
Raw interview with Rep. Cynthia Soto
Raw interview with Madigan spokesman Steve Brown
Raw interview with Sen. Sam McCann
