Alexandria Wilson, executive director of the Illinois Commission on Equity and Inclusion, was grilled by lawmakers during a budget hearing, April 15, 2026. | Photo: Jared Strong / The Center Square
By Jared Strong | The Center Square
State lawmakers failed to reform the Illinois Commission on Equity and Inclusion this legislative session despite bipartisan criticism of its performance and calls to disband it.
Moreover, the seven highly paid commissioners who lead it are getting raises along with numerous other executive branch appointees, and their requested $5.6 million budget was approved.
The budget allocation and pay increases were included in the early Monday morning votes to ratify a new, $55.9 billion state budget.
And they belie the considerable critiques that lawmakers aired during public budget hearings in recent months. House lawmakers initially said they intended to summon the commission’s staff for a third hearing to continue their questions, but that didn’t happen.
Lawmakers have seized on The Center Square’s investigation of the commission to question their salaries of about $150,000, given that they are allowed to work side jobs for extra pay and have overseen a sizable decline in the number of businesses owned by racial minorities, women and people with disabilities that are certified by the state.
Certified businesses are preferred for state contracts. The primary goal of the commission — which was created in 2022 — is to increase the amount of state contract money that is awarded to the businesses.
State Rep. Brad Halbrook, a Shelbyville Republican, said it was wrong to approve more money for the commissioners without further review. He is among those who want to eliminate the commission.
“Lawmakers were asked to fund an agency without receiving the additional scrutiny and answers that many members believed were necessary,” he told The Center Square. “In a state facing significant fiscal challenges, that is not how responsible budgeting should work.”
No Republicans voted to approve the new budget.
Report continues here.
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