Much of the media’s coverage of the November midterm elections was dedicated to individual races (and their surprising outcomes) that would determine control of Congress. But another critical result that slipped under the radar was Illinois voters’ landmark decision on Nov. 8 to permanently alter the fiscal future of their state.
Backed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Amendment 1 is a change to the Illinois Constitution that enshrines long-term employment contracts for government workers, multi-year salary increases, lifetime pensions, the power to strike, and much more. It also places no limits on subjects that can be included in the collective bargaining process. Under the amendment, any effort by state lawmakers to change or reform these privileges would be hopeless because they’d be backed by the state’s constitution.
By a narrow margin, Illinoisans voted yes on the amendment, essentially making Illinois “unreformable” by turning the state over to the government unions. So, it’s well past time for a serious policy discussion about the state’s staggering overspending and the damage this change will do.
When OpenTheBooks.com analyzed Illinois’s spending, we found huge paychecks and pensions for public employees across the state — we call it the $100,000 Club. There are more than 132,000 employees and retirees who currently benefit.
Wouldn’t you like to see which educators in your district make $160,000 or $170,000 per year for teaching driver’s ed or physical education classes? You can find them in Hinsdale District 86.
What about the retired art teacher from Lemont Public Schools who has a $120,000 pension annuity?
There’s no question that good teachers deserve to be fairly compensated, but the problem is these hefty salaries are also lining the pockets of bureaucratic administrators who may or may not be serving their districts well. Just last year, for example, 18 superintendents around the state took home over $300,000 last year. The man in charge at Homewood-Flossmoor High School took the cake with a $434,323 salary — more than President Joe Biden.
All told, 43,500 K-12 teachers, aides, and administrators are in the $100,000 Club, yet 69% of students can’t read at grade level and test scores keep plummeting.
The state’s law enforcement faces similar problems. Out-of-control crime in Chicago seems to be a matter of poor political choices, not stingy pay. The police and fire departments paid 600 employees between $200,000 and $480,000 last year. More Illinois state police officers are retired on six-figure pensions (1,555) than there are current officers employed with six-figure salaries (1,540).
The examples get wackier the deeper you dig. Elsewhere in Chicago, 378 bus drivers made between $100,000 and $242,812. Street light repairmen made up to $196,123. Who knew a city sign painter was worth $145,341? The auto pound boss cleared $124,783.
Unlike Soho House or the 21 Club, this club is growing less and less exclusive. Taxpayers may want to consider installing a doorman. Just four years ago, we found 94,000 six-figure earners, but today the number has already ballooned to 133,000. The American Legislative Exchange Council recently found that, in a state of 13 million people, every man, woman, and child owes $42,000 just to fulfill a $533 billion unfunded public pension liability.
Now, with Amendment 1 being written into the state constitution, lawmakers will have precious few tools to chart a course back to fiscal sanity. Worse, they are the ones who set this in motion, rubber-stamping the union-backed language and authorizing it to go on the ballot. Effectively, Illinois’s lawmakers ceded their responsibility for getting the state’s finances in order.
Because of Amendment 1, when the never-ending wish lists from union bosses finally crash up against the reality of the state’s debt, deficits, and unfunded liabilities, Springfield can simply throw up its hands. We’re not allowed to help, they’ll say.
But taxes can only be hiked so high before the state starts repelling current and future residents. For example, Illinois Policy estimated that average property taxes will rise by $2,100 in the next four years — and that was before Amendment 1 passed. As unions keep making demands outside the normal scope of bargaining and leverage their new permanent right to strike, numbers like that will only increase.
So while crime skyrockets in the neighborhoods, test scores plummet in the public schools, and inflation decimates private-sector paychecks, the Illinois public employee class keeps living the good life. With Amendment 1, the good life only stands to get better. Life for taxpayers, however, will continue getting worse until they elect leaders willing to make tough choices to keep their state solvent. First among them must be offering voters a constitutional mulligan.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RESTORING AMERICA
Adam Andrzejewski is CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks.com, the largest private database of U.S. public sector expenditures.
