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Report: 235 state employees averaged 11 percent pay raises

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Illinois

* NBC5 has a story that will likely resonate out there in Voter Land…

At a time when Gov. Pat Quinn is speaking of the worst economic crisis since “the great recesson” NBC Chicago has learned some 235 state employees have received pay raises this year.

Earlier this summer, the Associated Press revealed 43 employees — many of them in the governor’s office — had been awarded pay hikes, but NBC Chicago, through a Freedom of Information Request, has uncovered even more pay hikes.

Of the 235 who received a pay raise in 2010, 225 of them received more than a five percent pay hike. Those rewarded with a fatter check include a labor relations expert whose pay increase is more than $5,000, to the local tourism marketing manager who received more than a $10,000 pay hike. […]

“We cannot afford to raise pay for anybody when we owe $5 billion to vendors,” Brady charged.

The pay raises range from $300 a year to $40,000 a year. The average raise for these non-union employees is 11 percent — that’s four times higher than private industry expectations.

The governor’s order forcing those workers to take 24 unpaid furlough days will wipe out most of that average pay increase, but this is not a good story for candidate Quinn whatsoever.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:36 am

Comments

The campaign-by-governing isn’t working out so well with decisions like that.

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:42 am
Gulp. Mark the date. I agree with John.

Comment by David Ormsby Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:49 am
It looks like Quinn is doing a little razzle dazzle. Take furloughs, get a raise, you’re held harmless.

He really needs a hammer on his team who can tell him “no” when he does these dumb things. The last one to step in it will probably win in November. Quinn seems to like treading in the nasty part of the barnyard.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:50 am
Uh oh… this could mean the Cubs pull off a 20 game winning streak and make it to the Playoffs.

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:50 am
How’s that Jack Lavin promotion working out for you Governor?

Comment by 69 mets Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:53 am
Of the 235, how many were for promotions to fill a vacancy? Do people really think that pay should be frozen for a person being promoted? If so, why would anybody apply for a vacancy? And if people think vacancies should be left unfilled, who is going to run the affected programs (these are all non-union, management jobs we’re talking about)?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:58 am
This is bad. Voters are responding negatively to the pay raise story and this puts it back on the front burner.

Bummer for Pat.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 8:59 am
Blagojevich minons were probably promoted, the “Peter Principle” is alive and flourishing in Illinois.
They’re lining their pockets before Quinn is defeated in November.

Comment by If The Shoe Fits Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:02 am
With teachers getting let go this is not going to play well, promotions or not.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:03 am
Anonymous makes a good point, why would anyone apply for a vacancy?

Especially when you’re pay will be frozen and you’ll have to take 24 furlough days because of the bad press? I’m glad I punched out of the University of Illinois when I did. I’m not sure how many non-union people there are, but many are being decimiated by having not only flat pay, but getting the double whammy of furloughs. If you want to talk about attracting top talent, this is the wrong way to do it… I imagine most of the top talent is planning their exit strategy now… if they haven’t already.

Of those 235, how many are double Rutan exempt… that would tell me all I need to know about these pay raises.

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:05 am
Where’s that Rich Whitney campaign flyer?

Comment by Deep South Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:06 am
=Of the 235, how many were for promotions to fill a vacancy?=
Good question. Quinn could certainly ask for the list himself and list how many were for promotions to fill a vacancy, but he’s already lost that chance - I imagine Ahern asked for comment

Comment by Robert Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:07 am
They are still doing it all the staff that report to the Secretary at DOT are getting raises that are said to offset the furlough pay loss. What a crock.

Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:07 am
From a second story on the site

but more than one-third of the raises were not linked to new duties.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Quinn-Defensive-About-Staff-Raises-98252714.html#ixzz0wJ3v3upy

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:10 am
That’s awesome… a raise to offset the furlough which means once the furloughs stop, they get one huge raise.

Beautiful. That’s just a deferred 10% raise.

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:10 am
Dick Morris provides the road map to recovery:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/why_we_need_to_let_states_go_broke_kAFil8adYcXsyl20ygFdLL

Comment by Quinn T. Sential Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:10 am
Anonymous’ point at 8:58am is a good one. If the pay increases are due to promotion or change of position, then that’s one thing. And calling them ‘pay increases’ in that context is somewhat misleading. When I think of a pay increase, I think of someone getting more money for doing the same work with the same duties. A promotion typically means increased pay for increased duties.

The problem would seem that these salary increases have no context, and in the absence of other information - people are left to speculate as to the reason. An announcement covering some of this reasons would go a long way (e.g. Bob is our new director of communications. With the increase in pay comes more duties and responsibilities, etc…)

Of course, it could be exactly as portrayed - giving people more money for doing the same work. And if so, then I tend to agree with others that say this is a very bad idea at this time.

Comment by Name Withheld Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:12 am
Of course it’s looks excessive. But if Bell, California is becoming the national standard for public employee payment excess, well, the amounts
are tiny in comparison.

This is good reporting though. We need a lot more
of it.

Comment by cassandra Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:13 am
What is this state going to do if our next governor is both ethical AND responsible?

Comment by A.B. Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:18 am
- That’s awesome… a raise to offset the furlough which means once the furloughs stop, they get one huge raise.

Beautiful. That’s just a deferred 10% raise. -

Thats some well vetted information you latched onto there, John.

This story is fairly lacking in detail, are these raises or promotions? The July 12th story doesn’t explain whether these 235 instances were related to promotions or new jobs. Theres a big difference.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:18 am
Let me rephrase since I don’t know if either candidate fits that mold (although I think Brady might) -

What is this state going to do if we ever find a Governor that is both ethical and responsible?

Comment by A.B. Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:20 am
if they filled a vacancy I can see this - however - for the rest of us in the unlucky 2,700 there is no raise - someone should explain the fairness - I like Jim Nolans article last week he states it very well

Comment by what about the rest Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:20 am
The last time this story reared its ugly head, the fine print mentioned that most of the raises were for promotions. I’m guessing most of these “raises” were really promotions, too. Why can’t Quinn ever head off these kinds of stories at the pass?

Comment by don't get it Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:21 am
Hey, wait a minute. How many of these people were completely new hires? The paperwork lists previous salary — but that can be previous salary in previous job. And that’s the immediately previous job. So someone who worked in government at a mid-level post, went to grad school, and then took a part-time job while hunting for a new spot might get a $20,000 “raise” — at least according to the state paperwork.

Comment by soccermom Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:25 am
- Quinn T. Sential - Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:10 am:

“Dick Morris provides the road map to recovery:”

About a month ago, I proposed just this solution here at CapitolFax. This post should trigger quite a discussion…

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:26 am
Did any of the raises result from positions moving from merit comp to union?

Comment by SAP Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:27 am
Seriously,

This story is fairly lacking in detail, are these raises or promotions? The July 12th story doesn’t explain whether these 235 instances were related to promotions or new jobs. Theres a big difference.

Do you people read my comments? NBC 5 covers this…

but more than one-third of the raises were not linked to new duties.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Quinn-Defensive-About-Staff-Raises-98252714.html#ixzz0wJ3v3upy

So 33% of the folks did not get new job duties.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:56 am
Don’t forget that most non-union state employees haven’t had a raise in 4-5 years. Didn’t see that in the Ahern story.

Spread out the percentages over the number of years without a raise, Mary Ann, then take a breath.

Comment by b-non Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:57 am
OneMan, you’re looking at an old story about previously disclosed pay raises.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:59 am
OneMan - Do you read mine? That story is from July 12, like I said in my comment. It doesn’t address these 235 instances of salary increase, at least not all of them. It addresses the last round of these that came out back then.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:01 am
- About a month ago, I proposed just this solution here at CapitolFax. This post should trigger quite a discussion… -

I love your grand visions of discussion about breaking the unions, its quite a fantasy you have. But as Schnorf said a while back, its mental masturbation.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:02 am
STL,

I love it. Apparently you’re quite happy with the current method of closing the budget gap. Apparently you see a future where tax increases and ever-increasing spending provide some utopian state you have in your mind.

How’s that ‘more of the same” attitude been working out for you lately?

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:11 am
Good response from Brady. He needs to fire things up a bit, though and start going in for the kill. He needs to keep it up and present Quinn as being part of the machine. If Brady draws parrells between what Quinn has done on these payraises to what Todd Stroger did with the hiring of friends and *TONY COLE and family at excessive pay at tax payer expense that should play well in Brady’s favor so far as the Chicago area and burbs are concerned. And, did Quinn endorse Stroger in ‘06 like all other good democrats did for the good of the party?

Comment by Will County Woman Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:16 am
- How’s that ‘more of the same” attitude been working out for you lately? -

I’m getting by just fine. Unlike you, I don’t base my state of mind on whether the political system fits into my idea of a “utopian state”. Aside from the fact that its an impossibility and not a worthwhile topic, disagreeing with the idea of state bankruptcy as a method to break unions doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with anything. It means I don’t believe in that particular idea. Did you attend UIUC before logical reasoning became popular among humans?

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:19 am
==The last one to step in it will probably win in November==

Quinn’s not capable of stepping out of it.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:27 am
Did you attend UIUC before logical reasoning became popular among humans?

A lot of us don’t have to depend upon a professor to tell us how to be logical. If we had to, that would not be logical, would it?

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:33 am
Any numbers on union employees? There were some big pay raises in their ranks too. Some up to 20%.

Comment by Vole Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:33 am
Most egregious raises of all are at IDOT, where all of Hannig’s direct reports are getting raises to make up for the furlough days - but not the MC employees who are doing all of the work. And look at the salaries that these so-called directors and chief counsels are already getting - about 140K per year. And or the final touch, they’re giving a raise to the director of finance and administration, the same person who gave herself a midnight raise on the night that Blago was impeached. The whole thing stinks.

they

Comment by chicago 7 Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:43 am
- A lot of us don’t have to depend upon a professor to tell us how to be logical. -

I never said anyone did, but Cinci is awful proud of his engineering degrees and I think it must have been difficult to obtain them without using logic.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:43 am
Of course we can’t afford a state senator who doesn’t pay taxes either.

Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:44 am
Doh’

Why do they put the dates at the end?

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:48 am
The Quinn raise issue was handled pretty poorly, but the response seems to be all raises anywhere right now are bad. Wouldn’t any raise to road workers, stock brokers, local retail manager, McDonald’s workers, corporate exec, bank loan officer all be in the same category. They all cause a rise in the prices I have to pay to cover the cost not just my tax cost. I realize government goes on and retail businesses can close, but the prices for plywood or hamburger keep drifting up to cover increased costs. Quinn’s dumb move is perfect for a simple rant target because it is easy to get the info, gov is easy to complain about, ‘where’s mine?’, and it’s election time. Perfect target.

Comment by zatoichi Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 10:55 am
I feel like these stories need to show their numbers. If the trib did a story like this, I wouldn’t be surprised if they considered a new hire getting a raise, since last year the state paid him 0 and now hes getting a fat paycheck.

Comment by anon Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:03 am
STL,

{The GOP Congress should then amend the federal bankruptcy law to provide for a way — now absent — for states to declare bankruptcy. (Municipalities can do so under current law, but states have no such relief.)

Here’s the key: The reforms must require that states abrogate their public-employee union agreements in the bankruptcy process, just as private corporations like Delta and Chrysler have done. The wage hikes, the work rules, the pension plans all go out the window.}

For those (like the Governor) who thinks this is not possible, I would like someone to explain the employee and retiree benefit changes that were both allowed and required under the most recent CTA Bailout legislation in 2008.

Were it not for the benefit changes allowed and required, the votes would not have been there for the additional indebtness through bond sales that provided the short term funding to shore (prop)up both of the CTA retirement and health care plans.

Without that legislation in 2008, they would not have been able to continue to pay benefits and would have run out of money by now.

Comment by Quinn T. Sential Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:07 am
Really, state bankruptcy, that’s the good solution? Not exactly the spirit that won the West.

You think we had a global financial meltdown before, it would look nothing like the run that would happen under this cowardly “solution.”

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:12 am
How many of the 235 are in newly created positions - outside the Personnel Code, of course - that, indeed, were created solely to offset the furlough hit?

Comment by Joe from Joliet Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:18 am
So STL….At UIC, SEIU has notified their intent to strike. Apparently, they want a 20% increase over three years and no parking fees for their members. Everybody else hasn’t had a pay increases and had to take furlough days with more likely to come. How insane! Given the 10 percent unemployment rate, they should all be fired and replaced.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:25 am
Well, let’s be fair here. Lots of folks in the private sector are getting raises too, and not just the CEO’s. And, because inflation is so low, the money buys more than it would in normal-inflation times. You could say raises these days mean more.

Unfortunately, after 12 years of Ryan/Blago, many citizens’ reaction to these stories is to assume the worst. It’s not like our politicians didn’t bring it on themselves. And it’s going to take a long time to change that perception. Part of the job description, whoever wins in the fall.

Comment by cassandra Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:26 am
Rich - Were these actual raises or did they get promotions in job titles? I assume these are non-union?

Comment by lincolnlover Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 11:33 am
The thousands of state employees that had furloughs but no raise’s know they aren’t Quinn’s friends.

Comment by TheyGetiT Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 12:01 pm
When does “bad” for Quinn turn into “terrible”?

Even the President froze wage increases for those underpaid, overworked, hardly appreciated federal employees.

Comment by Brennan Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 12:30 pm
STL,

“I never said anyone did, but Cinci is awful proud of his engineering degrees and I think it must have been difficult to obtain them without using logic.”

Reason and common sense played a large part. You?

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 12:44 pm
Rich - I’m one of the “unfavored” 2000 getting shafted (again) by this govenor, and would sure like to see the list of 235. Its not on the NBC 5 website like the lists for the 43 Gov. Office and GOMB raises. Could you find/post it?

Comment by Winston Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 1:07 pm
This is devastating to those of us who have to take the 24 furlough days and haven’t had raises in 3 years. I would willingingly make this sacrifice if it would meaningfully impact the budget deficit. But it’s enormously unfair to attempt to balance the budget on the backs of MC employees while union employees contribute nothing. Quinn should have just rescinded the raises rather than punish the rest of us.

Comment by StreetervilleSnookie Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 1:28 pm
After reading about the 11% pay raises for 235 state employees, it reminded me of various “other less transparent” gratuities provided to “certain” state employees. Illinois taxpayers have been told that the state is financially broke so Pat Quinn was preparing us to get ready for a huge state income tax increase (but not until after the November election, of course).

Yet, somehow Pat Quinn always has enough money to allow Illinois taxpayers to supply state provided housing for “certain special” privileged union employees. At Stateville Prison,we now allow 3 majors (union members) to have state provided houses along with all of their utilities provided and they only have to pay a grand total of only $125.00 per month.Not bad, huh? State employees have also said that this is also going on in the Mental Health Department as well as the Department of Conservation. I am not positive but I was told that Pontiac also has about 7 housing units so you can just imagine “the total” scenario for the whole state-wide Departments when you include all of the various state agencies.

I mention this just to illustrate that there are a whole lot of “other state employee benefits” besides simply the obvious weekly paycheck that Illinois taxpayers have been paying to certain chosen state employee union members (if they are among Pat Quinn’s “elite & chosen few”). I was surprised that Bill Brady hasn’t been all over this state employee “fact of life”?

Comment by Cool Hand Luke Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 1:56 pm
Is there a list of the names of the 235 somewhere?

Comment by flabergasted Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 5:44 pm
Lots of speculation about filling vacancies and promotions. Only one guy can answer that question. Well Governor? How bout speaking truth, remember? And if you’re filling vacancies that have been open for a while, how ’bout explaining why you filled them in this economic climate.

Just tell us. Let the press question you on this.

Comment by Park Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 5:56 pm
As more job titles enter into the union…pay raises will continue. I know PSA’s at my work location recieved quite a pay hike once they were unionized this year.

Comment by Chubby Cubbie Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 7:01 pm
Where’s the list? Names can tell alot about unethical behavior and politics. I know my name isn’t on there. Someone link it please.

Comment by NRA associate Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 7:20 pm
When it rains, it rains on the just and the unjust. But, in IL, the unjust have umbrellas.

Comment by Emily Booth Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 7:36 pm
Vole your way low on some of those union raises. Positions that recently wnt into the union saw 100% increases for some, 50-60% increase for others on down to small increase of 10%.

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Aug 11, 10 @ 9:50 pm
I am so frustrated by this. Why can we not get a list of the 235 employees and whether or not the increases were truly due to new positions or just an increase in pay to offset the furlough days. I would like to talk intelligently about this, but the information is not available. Where are the investigative journalists?

Comment by anon Thursday, Aug 12, 10 @ 2:41 am