July 22, 2016
To the Honorable
Members of
The Illinois Senate,
99th General Assembly:
Today I return Senate
Bill 2931, one of several bills backed by the Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) Healthcare Illinois & Indiana that would impose unaffordable
obligations on the State’s taxpayers.
The bill mandates an
immediate increase from $13 to $15 in the hourly wages for personal assistants
who perform in-home care for individuals with disabilities pursuant to the Home
Services Program operated by the Illinois Department of Human Services. That is
an immediate pay increase of over 15 percent. The bill also mandates a level of
contributions to the union health care plan that covers these workers and requires
comprehensive in-person orientation and training, for which these workers would
have to be paid the mandated, higher hourly rate. Taken together, these changes
would saddle the State’s taxpayers with almost $87 million in additional annual
costs. This bill does not provide for a funding source for that $87 million. This
is money that the State does not have and would have to offset through cuts to
this and other programs.
Further, the
individuals covered in this legislation already earn more than their
counterparts, both here in Illinois and in other states. The average hourly
wage for personal care assistants in the United States is $10.60. In Illinois,
outside the Home Services Program, these workers likewise earn $10.60 per hour
on average. Pursuant to collective bargaining agreements with the State,
workers represented by SEIU already earn the hourly rate of $13, with more
skilled workers earning much more. The State simply cannot afford to increase
the hourly rate from $13 to $15. When the rest of State government is being
asked to do more with less, it would be irresponsible to give one special group
a 15 percent pay hike.
in the parties’ prior
collective bargaining agreement, SEIU negotiated and secured the right to
provide its own orientation and training to personal assistants. For SEIU now
to insist on a mandatory orientation and additional annual training on
taxpayers’ dime is troubling enough. It is doubly so when the bill would
require that the workers receive a higher hourly wage for all of that time, and
on an annual basis.
Therefore, pursuant to
Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby
return Senate Bill 2931 entitled “AN ACT concerning State government”, with the
foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR