Recent complaints from a state Democrat that Illinois’ lawmakers should get paid despite its statewide financial crisis are proof that current legislators are putting themselves ahead of their constituents, a GOP candidate said.
“People in Illinois aren’t getting paid either because we’re not getting this budget on track," Benjamin Salzberg, the Republican candidate for State Senate from District 29, said. "We need to work together in order for anybody in this (legislative body) to get paid because if they’re not going to work together, they shouldn’t be leaving with a paycheck."
His comments are in response to those from state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Dist. 4), who said that it’s wrong for lawmakers’ income “to be held for months and months and months” and that they should be paid for the work they do.
“We’re not vendors...We deserve to get paid,” she said from the Senate floor.
But the question everyone seems to be asking in retort is: Are you guys actually working in Springfield? The state has been functioning sans a budget for almost a year; and with roughly $8 billion in bills yet to be paid to the state’s social services providers and firms doing business with Illinois, Salzberg said he doesn’t think they are.
“There are a lot of people who need to get paid in the state, and there are a lot of people hurting in the state, and I feel that it is the duty of the legislative body for everybody to work together to get a resolution in place,” he said.
As principal and owner of PTD Partners, which turns around challenged corporations, Salzberg said that the way the state’s legislators are — or aren’t — conducting business doesn’t cut it.
“I just don’t say to employees or corporations, ‘OK, goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow and I’ll solve (whatever the problem is) a year from now,’" he said. "You have to sit down now, come up with a plan of action, and put it into place. And you cannot be paid without that."
In fact, he said, “I don’t think there’s anybody out there … that gets paid without working.”
Salzberg said he supports making lawmakers wait to get their paychecks just like everyone else has to wait to get paid by the state.
Something has to be done about the inaction that plagues the House and the Senate, and he said he thinks there has to be more accountability put into place.
“You have to be accountable, and I feel they aren’t accountable right now in the Senate or the House,” Salzberg said.
Sure, he added, lawmakers are only human and people tend to only think about themselves as individuals.
“But because these are leadership positions … the people should come first before your own needs," he said. "You can’t think otherwise when you’re in a leadership position. We need to put the citizens of Illinois first."
Salzberg is running against incumbent Democrat Julie Morrison in the general election being held Nov. 8.
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