By Blake Schnitker on February 4
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan last week filed a motion to freeze state workers salaries until the legislature and Governor Bruce Rauner produced a state budget.
In response to Madigan’s filing, State Representative C.D. Davidameyer and his colleagues introduced a bill on Thursday that would ensure state worker would in fact continue to receive their paychecks.
Davidsmeyer filed similar bill back in 2015 under similar circumstances, but clarifies the specific goals of this current bill.
“It’s similar to the one I filed back in 2015 when there was a threat that state employees would not get paid and state services would basically come to a halt. The one that I filed was a continuing appropriation for the budget year, so it would expire at the end of the budget year. The goal here is to make sure that during this budget crisis, we don’t cause further damage to what’s going on,” says Davidsmeyer.
He explains that the difference between his 2015 bill and this year’s bill is the involvement from Democrats.