Springfield… State Representative Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) has issued the following statement in response to the passage of House Bill 576, which repeals the COLA and salary adjustments for legislators in FY16.
“I voted against the budget which authorized the increases and fully support eliminating any future automatic salary and COLA increases. Madigan has been defending legislators pay raises for months. Now he has finally been forced to move based on public outrage.”
“In January of 2015 I introduced HB258, a bill which would permanently eliminate salary increases for legislators. Madigan’s bill (HB576) only stops pay raises for one year. The legislature must exercise financial constraint rather than proceed as if everything is okay. It is better late than never; however, this slow reaction symbolizes how partisan gridlock hinders common sense progress.”
“Thank you to all those who wrote letters, called, and to the press for helping raise awareness on this issue.”