By The Pantagraph Editorial Board | Posted: Friday, June 17, 2011 7:00 am |
We keep hearing from Gov. Pat Quinn and others how much the state's budget has been trimmed and how there's no place to cut without causing harm.
Then we read about the hundreds of boards and commissions the state still has, including about 30 whose members are paid from a few hundred dollars per meeting to six-figure salaries.
But that's not all. Those in paid positions also become eligible for state-supported pensions.
And an analysis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found that the more board and commission members are paid, the more they seem to have political connections.
These people are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. But the Senate doesn't seem to be doing a good job of thoroughly evaluating these appointments.
Here are a few examples reported by the Post-Dispatch.
Members of the Human Rights Commission include the daughter of a former state senators, the sister of a former state senators, the wife of an Illinois Supreme Court justice and the head of an abortion-rights lobby group that contributes more than $1 million to state elections -- the vast majority of that going to Democrats.
The Educational Labor Relations Board includes the wife of a state senator, a former Springfield lobbyist, a former legislative staff member and a former governor's aide. These people are paid a salary of $93,936 each.
Even unpaid boards spend money on conferences and other expenses. Many boards duplicate the work of others or have outlived their usefulness.
This is a long-term problem -- a situation that has been exploited by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Often these appointments have allowed lawmakers who lost a race or decided not to run to greatly pad their pensions with a year or so on a board or commission with higher pay than their legislative salaries.
The number of paid boards doubled under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who had pledged to cut them down to a handful.
By The Pantagraph Editorial Board | Posted: Friday, June 17, 2011 7:00 am |
Quinn has continued the dubious tradition of appointing former lawmakers to these posts -- with the accompanying suspicion that the jobs are traded for votes.
For example, Michael Smith, who lost a re-election bid, was recently named to the Education Labor Relations Board. Quinn also nominated another lawmaker who lost re-election to a paid post, but withdrew the nomination after questions were raised about her switching her vote from "no" to "yes" on the tax hike.
Before we hear any more talk about doomsday cuts, more borrowing and a lack of fat in the budget, Quinn and lawmakers should provide a specific plan for a very significant reduction in the number of boards and commissions.
And for those that remain, any paid positions should be commensurate with the time and effort needed to serve.
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