Rod Blagojevich

GOVERNOR

July 24, 2003

To the Honorable Members of the

Illinois Senate

93^rd General Assembly

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby veto and return Senate Bill 100, entitled “AN ACT concerning compensation of public officials.”

Our state’s judges work hard, and they are well compensated for their work.  They receive good benefits and enjoy good working conditions.  In a time when the economy continues to weaken, revenues continue to decline, more and more Illinois citizens find themselves out of work, and the need for resources in critical areas like education, health care and public safety continue to rise.  Providing a pay increase to judges that would cost the taxpayers nearly $4 million is inappropriate, ill timed, and unnecessary.

For this reason, I hereby veto and return Senate Bill 100.

Sincerely,

Rod R. Blagojevich

Governor