Courtesy of Mish.
One Word: Corruption
One Idea: Public Unions
One Person: House Speaker Mike Madigan
On Saturday, union servitude came to an end in Kentucky: State Kills Prevailing Wages, Passes Right-to-Work
No such chance exists in Illinois despite the fact that corruption, prevailing wages, pension disasters, public unions, and the dire fiscal straits of Illinois all go hand in hand.
Illinois is under the hard control of House Speaker Mike Madigan who is the Legislative Branch Dictator. Nothing gets passed without his approval.
Madigan’s Power
- Dole out committee chair positions and the stipends that come with them.
- Control who votes in committees.
- Dictate when a bill will be called for a vote.
- Control what bills make it to a vote.
Under House rules in Illinois, these committee chairs are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the speaker. This means the speaker may remove and replace committee chairs for any reason at any time. Additionally, the speaker can create new special committees, and thus dole out even more chair positions.
The speaker’s influence doesn’t end there. Each of these committee leadership positions comes with a generous $10,000 yearly stipend. These stipends help push Illinois lawmakers’ salaries to the fifth-highest in the nation.
Total average compensation for lawmakers is now nearly $100,000 for what is essentially part-time work. Those stipends help boost the pensionable salaries of lawmakers who participate in the state pension plan, making the positions much more attractive than one might guess at first glance.
Speaker Corruption
Illinois legislators benefit from their own corruption and Mike Madigan intends to keep it that way. His tax firm is one of the biggest beneficiaries of his power.
