Emil Jones: Critics Told the ‘Biggest Lie’ Ever

August 15th, 2008 at 02:04pm Aaron Chambers

Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, buckled to mounting political pressure Tuesday and allowed senators to vote on whether to reject pay raises for themselves, House members, constitutional officers and agency directors.

The Senate rejected that pay raise, but not before Jones lashed out at critics for suggesting he had attempted to put the vote off until after the Nov. 4 general election. You see, the Senate had to vote on the pay raises by 30 days from the time an obscure panel recommended it or the raises would have gone into effect automatically.

Jones himself had this to say in May when asked whether he would allow a vote: “I need a pay raise.”

Wednesday was the 30th session day since the panel issued its report. But Jones said that special session days held during the summer don’t count. Only regular session days count, he insisted.

(It’s true that action during special session generally must be confined to the terms of the governor’s order — education funding, for instance. But it’s also true that the Senate may meet in regular session when it happens to be in Springfield for special session. On Tuesday when the Senate was in town for special session, in fact, it convened in regular session to reject the pay raises.)

“To say, ‘The Clock is running. If you don’t act this week, the pay raises will go into effect.’ Biggest lie ever told,” Jones said.

Really? The biggest lie ever told? In the history of the world?

Entry Filed under: Emil Jones, Illinois politics