Fiscal Fallout: Illinois has among highest-paid state employees

By Jared Strong | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The average wages for Illinois state employees are among the highest in the nation and belie the state’s more modest cost-of-living rankings, according to state and federal data.

A living cost analysis this year by the Economic Research and Information Center in Missouri ranked Illinois as the 24th most-expensive state. That is similar to the findings of the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, which placed Illinois 19th among states and the District of Columbia, where it is most expensive to live.

But Illinois is among the Top 5 states for highest salaries for state workers, according to OpenPayrolls, which tracks the data nationwide.

It found that the average annual state government salary in 2023 in Illinois, excluding university jobs, is about $79,000.

That pay has been further buoyed by raises since, including a recently self-imposed raise for lawmakers that increased their base pay to $98,000, which is also in the Top 5 among states.

A review by the Illinois Policy Institute this year found that pay for state government employees who are represented by the AFSCME Council 31 union has increased 57% faster since 2021 than for private sector jobs.

The group — which is highly critical of government spending — calculated an average wage for those state employees at about $85,000, whereas it said comparable private sector jobs paid about $78,000.

AFSCME’s latest contract with the state included pay increases that total about 18% over the course of four years.

“It’s a lack of a fight in negotiation on behalf of taxpayers,” said Dylan Sharkey, of Illinois Policy, told The Center Square.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article.

The Center Square exposed the state’s ballooning budgets and Pritzker called for a 4% reduction soon after. The Center Square also recently reported on the millions the state has spent in recent years for its new Commission on Equity and Inclusion, which is mostly charged with ensuring that a certain percentage of state contract money goes to businesses owned by racial minorities, women and people with disabilities.

That agency — formed in 2022 — has seven commissioners that earn more than $150,000 each year and are allowed to have other jobs. Their tracking data show the state is farther from its goal than when the commission began its work.

State employees who earn by far the most are University of Illinois coaches. The Fighting Illini head football coach, Bret Bielema, has a base salary of $7.7 million.

No one in state government eclipses $1 million, according to state salary data obtained by The Center Square. Here are the highest earners:

– The top two salaries belong to administrators of the Teachers’ Retirement System, a pension system for school personnel throughout the state excluding Chicago. Executive Director Robert Rupnik has a base salary of about $518,000. Ghiane Jones, the deputy chief investment officer, earns about $398,000. The eighth-highest state salary of about $327,000 goes to the retirement system’s lead attorney, Emily Peterson.

– Medical administrators and physicians occupy the rest of the state’s Top 20 salaries. The medical administrators for the departments of Corrections and Human Services have base salaries of between $310,000 and $345,000. The top physicians earn about $307,000.

– The state’s seven Supreme Court justices have annual salaries of about $299,000. The more than 40 other appellate judges earn $281,000. Hundreds of other judges make at least $245,000.

– General counsel for the governor, Ann Spillane, has a base salary of about $298,000.

Pritzker, a billionaire heir of the Hyatt fortune, has forgone his salary of more than $200,000.

Other leaders of the executive branch have the following salaries set by state statute:

– Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias: $212,400

– Attorney General Kwame Raoul: $212,400

– Treasurer Michael Frerichs: $186,000

– Comptroller Susana Mendoza: $186,000

– Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton: $186,000