Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger never had any business withholding state

Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger never had any business withholding state legislators’ pay to discipline them for the state budget stalemate, and I only wish I’d clearly said so from the start.We can’t allow the executive branch of government to illegally use personal economic coercion to make the legislative branch fall in line on policy disputes, even if sticking it to politicians makes everyone feel good.But it wasn’t right.It was a cheap political stunt aimed at appealing to a general desire by voters to fight back against elected officials. And in all probabilities, it was an unconstitutional infringement on the separation of powers between coequal branches of government.That doesn’t change just because Mendoza won the election.Unfortunately, Mendoza promises to continue her predecessor’s policy of making legislators wait months in line to get paid as do state contractors instead of receiving a regular paycheck as other state workers have done during the Springfield impasse.The only way to change that dynamic was for somebody to file a lawsuit, which is why Friday’s filing was long overdue.Would it have been more forthright for them to go to court before the election and allow the issue to play out as part of the campaign? Maybe so, but with Gov. Bruce Rauner and his allies willing to expend vast sums to muddy the issue with red meat attacks, I can certainly understand why they didn’t.Since Munger announced her policy, legislators have been paid only twice.The state is now more than six months in arrears on paying them.Many state legislators have outside sources of income and can go half a year without getting paid. “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I custom jerseys will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. “Because we don have a state Cheap Jerseys From China law it impossible for the Missouri Attorney General to take action against these debt collection companies.”With the Missouri Attorney General unable cheap nfl jerseys to step in and Leonard still fearing harassment, KCTV5 News investigative reporter, Stacey Cameron contacted KCI by phone and by person cheap jerseys wholesale at the company Lenexa, KS office to see if he could clear up the mess.One day later, two separate letters from KCI arrived at Leonard home in Butler. The first revealed that all collection efforts had Cheap Jerseys been dropped. According to KCI, “Please be advised that the account listed below has been deleted from this customer credit history.”The second letter contained a check for $150, a refund for the three payments Leonard had made before the hospital wiped out her debt.