Totaling the unsustainable tax increases and windfall revenue during Pritzker Administration – Wirepoints
May 26, 2026
3 Comments
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
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A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
This is one of the main reasons why your PTs increase at a higher rate than your private-sector salary. State of IL union employees’ salary progression averages over six percent per year, including prorated step increases. The vast majority of private-sector workers have considerably less salary progression.
“provide a nearly 18 percent pay raise over four years”
Is this another instance of the media not including step raises with overall raises?
Most likely, and I presume you think that’s outrageous. If so, your argument essentially is that no worker should ever have more purchasing power since the day of hiring. Do you have that expectation for your own wages? If so, a 50 year-old worker who has a multi-decade career with the same employer never has any financial security or value than the person who just started. That’s not how it ever works, is it? People work with the hope and some degree of expectation they will be valued and promoted within that same general job classification or to another one,… Read more »
My argument is the media cannot clearly and accurately communicate union contracts and wages. The amount of a “raise” or salary increase is the difference between what you earn this year and what you earn next year. That is how the average reader interprets an x% raise. If this 18% does not include step increases, then it’s misleading readers.
Best practice is to give a range of the normal step increase and add that to the COLA.
Maybe so, but to the extent any wage growth is shown to noticeably be beyond a year-to-date CPI it’s going to inflame those who think about such things superficially to believe what I’ve already said—that it’s “unfair”. Well, it’s the norm when new contracts are reported, and maybe that’s purposely done to avoid the inflammatory political blow-back of reporting it in a way that would include step or promotion increases for all employees.
No one is saying a worker should not get increases over the course of a career, in excess of inflation. That is a straw man argument.
In the private non-union world, one must earn the increase through performance. Increases are not given based only on willingness to show up every day. Foreign concept, I guess, to earn an increase.
My comment doesn’t necessarily change for workers in private employment. The concept is wider in usage than your contemptuous statement re public employees cares to consider.
James – the way to avoid layoffs and stagnant employment in the private sector is to add value in excess of your compensation expense. So your statement isn’t entirely accurate. A business will not survive unless it pays employees who add significant value add enough to keep them. I recall talking to a Harvard grad who worked in the public sector that pay should be based on credentials. When I mentioned to her pay should be based on value and contribution and not credentials she drew a blank. Her Harvard education infused her with a sense of credentialism to the… Read more »
I have no distaste for compensation being related to clearly stated performance goals that are tough but not unrealistic. But, if any organization wants long-term employee loyalty those goals had better be REALISTIC as opposed to goals only 1-5% of employees ever attain.
The nerve of these union workers to negotiate a pay raise that doesn’t even keep up with inflation. On top of that they expect to take time off for things like having children. Just crazy.
Wow a short concise response for once not a long rambling incoherent response!!
There is hope for you PPF.
CPI inflations been under 2% for decades and only since 2021 has it gone to avg of appox 4.5% and is currently heading down. AFSCME’s getting 4% raises for next for years for total 20%. Is AFSCME taking advantage of current high inflation negotiating for 4% annual raise?
fed, just now, raised interest rates to 5.5% but CPI’s hovering around 3% (fed CPI target is 2%)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-reserve-raises-interest-rates-to-22-year-high-3c3e499c
AFSCME state workers, for the last 8 years, got a raise of 11.5%. Inflation, during that time, according to https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator made 1.00 in July, 2014 worth 1.29 today. That’s an increase of more than 25%. 17.95+11.5=29.45% over 12 years. So unless inflation rises by less than 2% for the next 4 years, which inflation has increased 2.2% on average, since 2000, this contract won’t keep up with inflation.
Btw, 4% x a 4 year contract does not equal 20%. It equals 16%.
yes 4×4=16 not 20. I believe the articale states AFSCME state employees to receive nearly 18% raise over 4 years for already highset paid state employees in nation. Another articale also states they are getting one time $1,200 bonous
The CPI arguably is hard to calculate; but the various hedonic adjustments over the years, the formula adjustments, and the various other shenanigans they play make the official CPI a joke. The joke I like to make is that the price of a Rolls Royce may be flat but food is up 10%, so the CPI reflects a 5% inflation rate!
They have DESTROYED Illinois for decades to come. Hard-working high-income earners are fleeing with their families. Billions of future tax dollars lost forever. The number of people fleeing is growing at an alarming rate. The replacements are poor illegal immigrants. This is not going to end well for many, many people.
I know of a company that cancelled pay raises entirely this year. Then they eliminated the employer contribution to the company 401k. They haven’t had a defined benefit pension plan in years. The issue isnt state workers getting raises. The problem is they use the monopoly power given to them by the state to compel the rest of us to pay for their raises, independent of economic situations.
Sounds like the issue is private sector companies exploiting their workers, then telling their workers to blame public sector workers. Did those company heads have their raises and pensions frozen also?
Sorry, did those company heads have their company retirement contributions frozen also?
Another union robbery of the Illinois taxpayers
The average annual raise over the last 8 years (4 years, the pay for AFSCME represented state workers was frozen) was 1.4% for a total of 11.5%. Inflation rose 25.5% over the last 8 years. This contract that was recently ratified makes up for that, but does not keep up with projected inflation over the next four years. Furthermore, state workers are doing the jobs of 2 and 3 people due to current staffing issues. If a worker is paid one worker’s salary, but doing the job of other positions, in addition to their own, they’re very much underpaid. Taxpayers… Read more »
Public employee unions donate millions of dollars of your dues to the campaigns of the Dem politicians who underfund your pensions to pay for other stuff, and who won’t support staffing your agencies.
Why is that?
It’s called the AFSCME PEOPLE program, and it’s nowhere near what the private sector donates. Every public sector worker I know doesn’t have a million to donate to their favorite politician. I have heard of the insurance industry being the largest donor. For more information, see opensecrets.org.
Failed to answer my question.
I didn’t ask you what AFSCME calls its’ policy of taking money provided by taxpayers to union employees as wages, and donating that money to elect Democrats who use tax dollars that should go toward disastrously underfunded union pensions to buy (bribe) votes from other people.
I asked you why AFSCME gives millions of dollars to elect Dems who absolutely promise that they’re going to continue to do it.
Would you rather give to someone who’s going to work with you, or to someone who’s going to work against you? Btw, from a personal standpoint, I’m an independent and I lean Republican. The only issue that keeps me from becoming a Republican is their stance on public sector workers and labor unions.
I’ll give you two words that will sum up the reason: Bruce Rauner.
BTW, AFSCME practically ran Republican Sen. Sam McCann’s final campaign for state senate when Rauner ran Bryce Benton against him.
Republicans don’t like public sector workers and they especially don’t like unions. Why would any union support them?
So, because Rauner was a one-term-n-trounced Republican, AFSCME continues to support Democrats, who can do absolutely whatever they want in Illinois.
This, even though what Democrats do ‘do’ is understaff your agencies, underpay your fellow union members (you claim), and disastrously and/or precariously underfund your your pensions and health benefits.
So that they can give taxes they owe you to other people for other stuff for their votes.
By your logic, you guys should be supporting some sort of third party – anyone other than a Republican or Democrat.
Don’t forget that during the 2018 election, 700,000 new voters showed up to vote in IL compared to the 2014 election. Nearly all 700,000 of those ballots were straight ticket Democrat ballots, giving JB the most votes/ballots of any Governor in modern IL history. Rauner ‘lost’ only 100,000 votes compared to 2014, despite a fake Conservative Party candidate who siphoned off 192,527 of Rauner’s voters. Was the election stolen? Well, yes and no. JB’s $128,252,532.95 campaign fund purchased a massive ground game, which managed to carry over a lot of 2016 presidential voters into 2018 midterm voters. How many of… Read more »
Of course Rauner hated the unions because the unions are the parasitical infection and he being a legendary private equity genius understood the problem and offered actual solutions. The parasites ran him out with the help of a leftist media who refuses to do their job and a complacent, dare I say ignorant, electorate. The morons of IL get what they vote for. It’s past the time to leave, you can’t fix this.
Gosh, those poor government workers should seek other employment and not let the taxpayers exploit them any more. So why don’t they try to find a job in the private sector?
Why don’t you apply for one of the 8,000 jobs the state is having trouble filling?
Because I’m not the one whining about being robbed and exploited.
For those who wonder why public employee unions continue to endorse and donate money to the politicians who relentlessly spend taxes that should fund their pensions on other stuff to buy other votes – look no further.
Illinois is mired in a pestilential bankruptcy of finances and governance.
Most of us, it seems, are perfectly happy being lied to.