The Illinois Senate rejected a 7.5 percent pay
increase Tuesday following weeks of withering public pressure to turn
down the money.
The 47-0 vote (with three senators voting "present") came only weeks
after lawmakers got 3.8 percent cost-of-living increases on July 1.
That bumped the based salary of a rank-and-file lawmaker to $67,833 and
legislative leaders close to $100,000.