State Comptroller Susana Mendoza is taking fire from some media sources for her refusal to fight a ruling to release lawmakers' paychecks ahead of other state payments.
The Quad-City Times criticized Mendoza’s willingness to fall back from the fray after a Cook County judge made his decision. Capitol Fax also berated her acquiescence, publishing the Times’ work on its website.
“Mendoza’s lack of action so far suggests she’s just another slave to [House Speaker Mike] Madigan’s Chicago Democrats,” the Quad-City Times posted on its website. “Appeal the decision, Ms. Mendoza. Anything less will verify our suspicions.”
The newspaper also criticized the comptroller for not acting independently to support those taxpayers and others awaiting long-withheld reimbursements from the beleaguered state coffers.
“Mendoza's actions don't square with her campaign rhetoric,” the paper wrote.
It also suggested that reiterating the state’s financial problems is becoming wearisome. While the publication recognized that Mendoza’s office did file a notice of an intention to appeal, formal action has yet to materialize.
Capitol Fax objected to part of the Times' piece that called Mendoza “just another slave to Madigan’s Chicago Democrats.” Writer Rich Miller argued that after the use of the word “slave,” the editorial board might have “some explaining to do."
While acknowledging that the comptroller could lose an appeal, the Times said that such a move would at least cast Mendoza in a more favorable light for pursuing actions based on her purported convictions and previous promises, instead of merely toeing the line.
“Mendoza might lose should she push the issue to an appellate court,” the paper wrote. “But … [it] would show that Illinois' comptroller isn't just another pawn of the Democratic machine.”
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