Government Raises

First up, Jesse White gives away 6% raises:

• At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has handed out pay hikes exceeding 6% to his entire executive staff.

  According to payroll data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Better Government Assn., Mr. White in the 12-month period ended May 31 gave 4% and then 2% raises to roughly 250 non-union administrative personnel, almost all of them policymakers, supervisors or their clerical assistants.

  The hikes collectively are costing taxpayers an extra $78,000 a month.

And Quinn is finding out what the word "contract" means:

• Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn violated the union contract with nearly 30,000 state workers by refusing to give them a pay raise July 1, an arbitrator ruled Tuesday.
  
  Edwin Benn ordered Quinn to start paying the 2 percent increase and provide back pay within 30 days.
  
  "As a matter of contract, the state cannot simply refuse to pay the increase," Benn wrote in his opinion.

Quinn has promised an appeal, enriching another generation of lawyers.