In order to not leave Illinois' vendors in the lurch, Allen Skillicorn, the Republican candidate in House District 66, recently proposed a “no budget, no pay” law to ensure that the state's leaders pass a legally balanced budget.
Schools, social services and hospitals have been waiting for reimbursements from the state for months due to the fiscal crisis in Springfield. According to the Illinois Constitution, a balanced budget must be passed annually, otherwise, Skillicorn said, the state’s officers and the 177 General Assembly members should not receive their salaries.
“In the private sector, we are expected to perform our jobs,” Skillicorn said. “If we do not, we should not be compensated. It’s time for politicians to start working for their constituents, not themselves. Warren Buffet once said on CNBC he could end the deficit in five minutes if he passed a law that said all members of Congress are ineligible for re-election if the deficit was greater than 3 percent of the GDP. Now is the time to do something similar here in Illinois.”
Current state law stipulates that elected officials be paid, but vendors, nonprofits, hospitals, and schools often end up waiting 90 days or longer to be compensated by the state.
“I cannot make incumbents ineligible for re-election under our constitution, but I can pass a law that says vendors, nonprofits, hospitals and schools should be paid before politicians that caused the mess are paid,” Skillicorn said. “Politicians should be at the back of the line, not the front.”
Skillicorn’s district encompasses areas in McHenry and Kane counties, including Algonquin, Carpentersville, Crystal Lake, East Dundee, Elgin, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Lakewood, Sleepy Hollow and West Dundee.
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