ILLINOIS (WAND) – A bill to increase Cabinet salaries in Illinois has been signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
SB 3531, which takes effect as law immediately, allows a 15 percent bump in salaries to directors and assistant directors in what Pritzker’s office labeled as “key agencies” in Illinois.
A press release says the higher pay will allow Illinois to attract talent that can “put Illinois back on track”. It says the bill includes an unspecified “mechanism to keep compensation competitive”.
“We cannot fix Illinois, fix the things wrong with the state, if we don’t have the top talent to do so,” Rep. Christian Mitchell, who sponsors the bill, previously told AP.
Illinois lags behind other states when it comes to Cabinet salaries, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said. The transportation director in Texas makes $300,000, and Corrections Department chiefs in California and Texas make close to $265,000. Illinois pays its state police director $140,000 compared to a $183,000 salary for the same job in Connecticut.
The full text of the bill is attached to this story as a PDF.
