By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois Policy Institute report finds that Illinois’ state workers are the highest-paid state employees in America when the cost of living is considered.
The Institute analyzed information from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. It found that Illinois pays its state workers an average yearly wage of $59,000, adjusted for the cost of living. That’s $10,000 more than the national average for state workers.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Gov. Bruce Rauner remain at loggerheads over a new state-worker contract. Rauner wants AFSCME to agree to a pay freeze and a 40-hour workweek; the governor has also offered merit bonuses for exceptional employee performance. AFCSME, on the other hand, is proposing wage increases of 11.5 percent to 29 percent over a four-year period.
Des Plaines accountant owner Brad Walton thinks the union’s wage demands are a bit much.
“The newest person in my office has been there, you know, like seven years,” Walton said. “I don’t think any of them are necessarily going to be worth 30 percent more in the next three or four.”
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall did not comment on the report.
The Illinois Radio Network is an independent project of the Illinois Policy Institute.
