Rock Island Today

As the Republican candidate campaigning for a House seat from District 72, which includes parts of the Quad-Cities, Brandi McGuire recently made her view known on the comparative feasibility of a failed major union contract for Illinois workers.

The nationwide American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) impacts civil workers in Illinois who are employed by either the state or their regional or local jurisdictions. Over a year ago, Gov. Bruce Rauner attempted to negotiate an agreement for Illinois with the AFSCME before the union’s contract with the state expired June 30, 2015.

 

With the fate of approximately 35,000 employees pending, talks proved fruitless when the union demanded pay hikes of 11.5 to 29 percent over the next three years, improved health and pension benefits, and paid overtime starting at 37.5 hours worked weekly.

 

McGuire believes that too much is being asked of the taxpayers, who are already burdened with the dubious status of being among the nation’s highest-taxed citizens.

 

“At this point and time, I believe the AFSCME contract demands are not reasonable given the current financial condition of the state,” McGuire said. “Illinois is in a severe and historical financial crisis.”

 

If AFSCME had obtained its entire wish list, the potential burden on Illinois taxpayers would have come to an extra $3 billion over the next few years. Instead, Rauner and his administration counter-offered — proposing stable wages, allowing perks to stay in place and trying to avert unnecessary layoffs while keeping union costs affordable for taxpayers statewide. To sweeten the deal, he even threw in a temporary wage freeze and bonuses if goals were met — but to no avail.

 

When the bargaining process failed, Illinois Democrats attempted to pass House Bill 580 last May, amending the Public Labor Relations Act respective to collective bargaining. But Rauner vetoed it and the caucus fell short of the 71 votes required to override the veto by two votes.

 

Had it passed, the government-worker unions could have taken control of contract discussions and passed the decision-making process on to unelected, third-party intermediaries not required to be accountable to taxpayers.

 

Because it failed, the state reverted to the policy already in place. The bill came to represent a key element of the governor’s struggle with the AFSCME's demands. The union pushed for HB 580 this year despite the fact that it had previously signed an agreement with Rauner in Sept. 2015 — still in effect — which delineated a way to resolve contract disputes and “negotiate in good faith.”

 

McGuire personally experienced the consequences of Illinois’ tight position, but chose to focus on the positive.

 

“In my family, my husband’s company imposed a two-year pay freeze,” McGuire said. “We were not pleased by that but are just grateful that he still has a job.”

 

The online publication Illinois Policy, which supported Rauner’s veto, reported that Prairie State taxpayers already subsidize a good chunk of the average AFSCME member’s health care expenses, paying out over three-quarters  (77 percent) of the cost. Every union retiree receives between $200,000 and $500,000 from Illinois residents for free lifelong health insurance; currently, each retired AFSCME worker also receives up to $1.6 million in pension benefits.

 

“We are all sacrificing during these trying times for our state,” McGuire said. “The most vulnerable — seniors, disabled and veterans — are facing cuts in services and our nonprofits are closing their doors. We have thousands of small businesses that are waiting on their payments for services rendered to the state.”  

 

Last month, McGuire advocated for Illinois to adopt a taxpayer bill of rights, pushing for greater transparency in personal and business tax policy to allow constituents more perspective both on the amounts they could expect to owe over the course of each year and on how their tax dollars are spent.

 

A taxpayer bill of rights had already been modeled; in 1992, the state of Colorado passed legislation as a constitutional amendment. McGuire stated that such a system is “much needed in Illinois.”

 

As a candidate, she has already taken a position on respecting tax priorities, pledging to refuse a legislative pension if elected. Additionally, she opposes additional sales taxes or raising income taxes at any level in Illinois.