Vella Calls for End to Legislative Pay Raise

ROCKFORD, Ill. – As Illinois continues to face financial issues, state Rep. Dave Vella, D-Rockford, is co-sponsoring legislation to put an end to automatic pay raises for legislators.

“As millions are out of work due to the pandemic and years of fiscal mismanagement, it is simply wrong that legislators receive a taxpayer funded pay raise year after year,” said Vella. “For too long politicians have enjoyed a yearly pay increase at the expense of taxpayers.”

Since 2014, budget appropriations for General Assembly members’ salaries were prohibited from being lower than the year before. This resulted in an annual automatic pay increase. In his first term as state representative, Vella is sponsoring legislation to finally put an end to these automatic pay raises for legislators. House Bill 178 removes the 2014 appropriations increase requirement for legislator’s salaries. Vella is committed to restore faith in government starting with cutting costly perks for politicians. To further this goal, Vella is choosing to lead by example by refusing a taxpayer funded pension for being a legislator.

“We need to restore faith in government and bring back fiscal responsibility to Illinois, and the first step for both of those goals is cutting unnecessary and unjustified pay increases for politicians,” said Vella. “I ran for state representatives to help the people in my district and to help put an end to corrupt practices in state government.”