SPRINGFIELD | While it appears statewide pay raises may sneak through before opposing legislators can shut the door on the proposition, a suburban Chicago Democrat has called for reform to the process.

"The process is flawed, and it needs to be fixed," said state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat. "There doesn't seem to be any oversight or any real inclusion of the affected parties."

Unless lawmakers vote to reject the pay raise by Wednesday, then elected officials from the governor on down to judges will receive an increase at the start of the following fiscal year.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is scheduled to receive about a 12 percent increase -- from $170,917 annually to $192,773. Rank-and-file lawmakers would get an 11 percent bump -- from $65,353 to $72,985.

The catch is that the legislative session will adjourn for the summer if the General Assembly can agree on a spending plan blueprint by midnight Saturday. The Illinois House already has rejected pay raises.

State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said the Senate leaders who decide when, if ever, to vote on the raises don't understand that the entire legislature will be held accountable by voters if new salaries are approved.

"It reflects poorly on the entire institution," Righter said. "They do not sufficiently appreciate that representative government is in the end about accountability."

Garrett said the automated system of enacting salary increases must change to a performance-based system, which also alters the role of the Illinois Compensation Review Board, which makes annual recommendations on state pay raises.

Pay increases should be based on defined criteria such as committee participation, and the review board should not have a relationship with any elected officials, said Garrett, who plans to file legislation next year.

Righter said if Senate Democrats want to stand by their word, they should tell Senate leaders "we are not taking part in the budget, we are not taking part in the capital bill until the resolution receives an up or down vote."

Kartikay Mehrotra may be reached at (217) 789-0865 or via e-mail at Kartikay.mehrotra@lee.net