* Illinois News Network headline…

Analysis: Court ruling on union pay to cost Illinois $400 million, could mean tax hike

* Now, read the story…

The Illinois’ Supreme Court recently decided it would not take up Rauner’s appeal of a lower court ruling that the state has to pay thousands of members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 their automatic raises, called step increases. Rauner and lawmakers now have to figure out how to pay for those pay hikes that have been accumulating since summer 2015.

Rauner’s office won’t give any figures about how much the judgment will cost the state, but analyses of public payrolls estimate the cost to be $400 million over four years.

“About 40 percent of AFSCME employees are step eligible,” said Ted Dabrowski, president of financial watchdog Wirepoints. “When you include the cost of a higher salary and add the Social Security cost and other costs over four years, you’re talking about a $400 million increase in the cost of AFSCME employees over that time period.”

So, a purported average annual cost of $100 million could lead to a tax hike?

…Adding… The Wirepoints story is here.

…Adding… AFSCME…

We’re analyzing the data to determine what’s owed to employees whose progression through the pay plan Governor Rauner has illegally denied. Looked at in totality, step increases have only a small net cost to the state, because the progression of the newest, usually lowest-paid employees through the pay steps is largely funded by what the state saves annually through attrition as older, typically higher-paid employees leave the workforce.