SUGAR GROVE, IL – 25th District GOP state Senate candidate Jim Oberweis responded to news that Governor Quinn’s budget, released last week, contains pay increases for himself and members of the General Assembly by urging legislators to reject the pay raise and pledging, if elected, to oppose them and work to repeal them.
"Last week I suggested that rather than refer to Gov. Quinn's proposed budget as a 'rendezvous with reality,' we should refer to it as a 'date with deception,'" said Oberweis. "With the revelation today that the budget contains pay increases for himself and the members of the General Assembly, perhaps we should now refer to it as an 'outing with the outrageous.'
"Thank you, Gov. Quinn, for giving us one more reason to support term limits -- because only out-of-touch career politicians could hatch this scheme.
"I urge the members of the General Assembly to reject this pay hike, and I pledge that if elected, I will oppose it and, if necessary, work to reverse it.
"This is no time for legislators to be voting themselves a pay increase,” continued Oberweis. “Doing so would be a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans who are struggling to make ends meet – largely as a result of the policies and programs, high taxes and higher regulation imposed upon them by the very legislators who now seek to vote themselves a pay raise.
"The base salary for an Illinois state Senator is $67,800," continued Oberweis. "That's already 20 percent higher than the median Illinois household income.
"It's outrageous actions like this that reinforce the belief among citizens that no one in Springfield cares about them, or about what they think. Insulated from voter rejection by gerrymandering and all the advantages that accrue to incumbents, legislators seem to think they can go on their merry way, immune to retribution.
"That's why I'm pushing for term limits," Oberweis continued. "State Representatives should be limited to four two-year terms, and state Senators should be limited to two four-year terms.
“We can drive the change we need. It begins here, and it begins now.”
25th Senate District GOP candidates Jim Oberweis and Dave Richmond responded to the 11-group consevative coalition's candidate survey. Their answers are found at Illinois Review's candidate survey listing.
