News From
State Representative Mark Batinick
 
For Immediate Release                                                                      Contact: Debbie Kraulidis
December 21, 2016                                                                                                (815) 254-0000
 
House and Senate GOP Legislators call on
Comptroller Mendoza to defend “No Budget No Pay”
 
PLAINFIELD – A group of sixteen House Republican legislators are calling on State Comptroller Susana Mendoza to keep her promise of maintaining former Comptroller Leslie Munger’s policy of “No Budget No Pay’ in place with regard to payment of state lawmaker salaries.  Twelve State Representatives and Four State Senators sent a letter to Comptroller Mendoza today urging her to defend “No Budget No Pay” in the face of a lawsuit filed by six House Democrat legislators on December 2 suing the Comptroller for delaying payment of their salaries.
 
“Social service providers and many others who rely upon the state to meet its financial obligations are being adversely impacted, to put it mildly, by the General Assembly’s failure to pass a comprehensive budget,” Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) said. “We are calling on the new Comptroller to stand with us in support of the individuals and families whose lives are being irreparably harmed due to the lack of stability in our budget.”
 
“We do not believe that payment of legislator salaries should be prioritized over the funding of health care and social service providers or others enduring the long delay in state payments,” added Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield). “The principle of “No Budget No Pay” should be kept in place; and the General Assembly should come together immediately to pass a responsible state budget in order to prevent further erosion of our social safety net and damage to our economy.”
For questions or more information, please call Rep. Batinick’s office at (815) 254-0000 or reach him directly on his cell at (630) 514-0180.
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Margo McDermed State Representative .
37th District Comptroller Susana Mendoza 100 West Randolph Street, Suite 15-500 Chicago, lllinois 60601 Vio fax and email December 27,2016
 
Dear Com ptroller Mendoza : We applaud you for supporting the principle of “No Budget No Pay” with regard to state payment of legislator salaries and for following through on your promise to keep the policy in place upon taking office. We also appreciate your earlier service to the people of lllinois as a State Representative and look forward to working with you in your new role as our State Comptroller during these challenging times for our state. On December 2, 20t6, six of our Democratic colleagues filed a lawsuit against then-Comptroller Leslie Munger for delaying payment of legislator salaries. While we understand that they are making a legal argument that legislators and other state elected officials are required to be paid, we believe that there is a compelling counter legal argument that the members of the lllinois General Assembly should not be paid. We, as members of the General Assembly, have the ability to resolve the budget situation and therefore bear a strong degree of responsibility for the fact that the Comptroller does not have the funds to meet the state’s obligations. lt is also important to note that legislative pay is only being delayed, not suspended. Our empathy lies entirely with the hardship the budget impasse has had on vendors, social service providers and others who rely upon the state to meet its financial obligations. The lives of these individuals and families are being irreparably harmed and businesses are literally being destroyed by the present budget situation. We do not believe that payment of legislator salaries should be prioritized over the funding of health care and social service providers and others enduring the long delay in state payments. Due to the fact that the Attorney General has a conflict of interest, we strongly advise the Comptroller to use lndependent Counsel to defend itself against the lawsuit filed by the six Democratic legislators earlier this month.
Thank you for your consideration and attention to this matter. Respectfully on behalf  Rep. Margo lucbdrmed !ate Legislators, Rep. Mark Batinick Rep. Avery Bourne Rep. C. D. Davidsmeyer Rep. Jeanne lves Rep. Dwight Kay Rep. Dave McSweeney Rep. Tom Morrison Rep. Joe Sosnowski Rep. David Welter Rep. Grant Wehrli Rep. Barb Wheeler Sen. Kyle McCarter Sen. Dan McConchie Sen. Jim Oberweis Sen. Sue Rezin
District 37 Office: 11032 W. Lincoln Hwy., Frankfort, lL 60423 I a15-277-2O79 Springfield Office: 2O4-N Stratton Office Building, Springfield,lL62TOG I 217-782-C,424 Email: McDermed@ilhousegop.org I Website: www.repmcdermed.com RECYCLED PAPER . SOYBEAN INKS

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