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A buried nugget in the legislative furlough bill

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Illinois

* I should’ve posted this earlier, but I forgot until a commenter reminded me a bit ago.

From that recent statewide poll we talked about yesterday…

In general, do you approve, disapprove or have no opinion about the job the Illinois General
Assembly is doing?

Approve - 16.13%
Disapprove - 42.63%
No Opinion - 41.25%

You gotta wonder how the respondents would’ve reacted if they were told about this little budgetary trick. A bill requiring legislator furloughs calculated the furlough days based on a 365-day working year…

That seems to mean that lawmakers believe they never stop working, even though it would appear from the results of the most recent legislative session, they never really started. […]

If calculated against their base pay of $67,835, the 365-day plan will cost each lawmaker a total of $743 from their paycheck.

If they based it on a five-day workweek, it would cost them a total of $1,043.

And, of course, there are so many committee chairmanships, minority spokespersonships and leadership slots - all which come with higher stipends - that the actual impact for most legislators is far greater.

Perfect.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 11:40 am

Comments

Oy!
Shameless.

Comment by phocion Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 11:45 am
Perhaps they should calcualte it based on actual session days.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 12:03 pm
A real furlough would be that at least once a year they have to pick up their own tab at Sebastians.

Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 12:06 pm
Ahhh…..Legislator Priorities.

1) Take care of ME.
2) Take care of big doners.
3) Take care of interest groups.
4) Take care of lobbiests.
5) Maybe/maybe not take care of ctizens/taxpayers.

Great.

Comment by sal-says Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 12:15 pm
Speaking of chairmanships — I just noticed Dunkin finally got his, not sure when. Hoffman still doesn’t have his.

Comment by Randolph Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 1:13 pm
Thieves I tell, thieves!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Dan S, a Voter and Cubs Fan Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 1:37 pm
Obviously they were taught math by the CPS

Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 2:25 pm
Job #1 is all that counts….and it looks like they figured how to count it their way.

Too bad they can’t figure out a budget

those b*st*rds

Comment by one day at a time Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 2:46 pm
oops… those ********

Comment by one day at a time Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 2:46 pm
One Day-

I assume you were referring to our “best stewards” in the GA.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 3:47 pm
Awaiting comment from 2ConfusedCrewEmptySuitParadeCircularFiringSquadBoxingCross:

None. Whatta surprise.

Too bad the Orkin Man will never press 3.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 4:19 pm
I think the “No Opinion” number is soft. Put it this way: On this blog, you got ten comments.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 23, 09 @ 11:01 pm