Historical Data on Illinois Senate - is it a part-time job?

by SF Bay, Sat Jan 12, 2008 at 09:51:29 AM EST

Much has been made of Clinton's recent comment that Barak Obama was a part-time State Senator.

I did some research to see how often the Illinois State Senate was in session during the period of 1996-2000.

I found my data from the following site:

http://www.ilga.gov/previousga.asp?GA=89

90th General Assembly - 1997-1998

Senate days - 118 days (59 days per year; 1.13 days per week)

91st General Assembly - 1999-2000

Senate days - 112 days (56 days per year; 1.08 days per week)

92nd General Assmebly - 2001-2002

Senate days - 118 days (59 days per year; 1.13 days per week)

93rd General Assembly - 2003-2004

Senate days - 161 days (80 days per year; 1.52 days per week)

My understanding is that Obama states he was paid for a full time job. I was not able to determine the State Senate salary during Obama's time in office, but the annual salary in 2005 was $57,600/year. http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/ 11/17/news/doc455cfae69a376453182858.txt

I wonder how Obama was able to live, with a family on an income like that. Unless he had other income. I would also note that he bought a house for $1.65 million dollars in 2005. That was the year after he left the Senate making at most $57,600 per year.

These are the historical facts of Obama's days in the Senate.
If I worked some 60-80 days a year I would be considered part-time in my job.

Tags: Illinois state senate (all tags)

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13 Comments

Eatapeach
it is considered a part-time job...

by the illinois general assembly.  so is, for that matter, the job of alderman in chicago.

most black legislators (actually all that i know of) say that they are full-time legislators.  the reasons why are significant.

apparently, the main reason why the illinois general assembly is considered part-time is so that machine pols can continue to do their connected work (mostly legal representation), where they can do quite well.  black legislators, of course, don't have that option, no matter how connected or high up they are (ala emil jones).  but the other reasons why they think of themselves that way is because the need is so great in their districts.

the facts here are just more confused.  if you're white, you sure the hell don't consider it a full-time job.  but if you're black, you probably do.  i can only assume that we all know where obama fits.  in what he's said, he fits squarely in the tradition of black legislators in illinois.

of course, it should be no surprise that hillary and her supporters want to judge barack by a different set of standards...

by bored now 2008-01-12 10:42AM | 0 recs
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Re: it is considered a part-time job...

I disagree with you re: holding people to different standards.

A 60-80 day per year job is either part-time or it's not. It doesn't matter what someone says. If your job is 60-80 days per year you work part-time. I don't care what you tell people.

And, why should we be judging Obama by a different standard? Is the guy not a lawyer and former law professor? Is he so different from Clinton? He lives in a multi-million dollar house. If anything is clear, he does not have much in common with working class blacks or whites.

The bottom line is the same. He was a part-time legislator. Right?

by SF Bay 2008-01-12 10:59AM | 0 recs
Eatapeach
obama did not do it part time...

he did it full time.  i'm not sure what about that you don't understand.  yes, illinois officially characterizes the illinois general assembly as part time work.

here's the thing you missed: BLACK LEGISLATORS DO THE JOB FULL TIME.

are you suggesting that barack is not black?  are you saying that he lied about how much time he devoted to it?

barack is black.  barack was a black state senator, who -- like all black legislators -- worked full time as a state senator.  you want to judge him by white standards, not the standard in which he conducted himself.  that's as simple as i can make it...

by bored now 2008-01-12 11:33AM | 0 recs
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Re: obama did not do it part time...

Then how did he have time to teach law part-time? I don't see how you can have it both ways.

by SF Bay 2008-01-12 11:34AM | 0 recs
Eatapeach
Re: obama did not do it part time...

many americans have both a full-time and part-time jobs.  count obama as one of those.  i was once told barack got a thousand bucks for each class he taught...

by bored now 2008-01-12 12:30PM | 0 recs
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Re: obama did not do it part time...

More likely a thousand dollars per semester.  Nobody gets a thousand dollar per class.  Nobody.  And, by the way, he was an instructor, not a law professor.

by Tolstoy 2008-03-29 08:44PM | 0 recs
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and what was he doing the rest of the time?

This:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/ob ama/701490,CST-NWS-obamaprof18.article

by mboehm 2008-01-12 10:59AM | 0 recs
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Re: and what was he doing the rest of the time?

Well, according to your article he worked part-time as a law professor. And he had the time because he job as a legislator was part-time also.

I'm not saying it's good or bad. It is just a fact. He did not devote all of his time to the state senate.

Clinton can accurately point out that his experience in politics is limited.

by SF Bay 2008-01-12 11:03AM | 0 recs
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Re: and what was he doing the rest of the time?

I'm not sure what the point of this whole thing is supposed to be.  I don't think the people who were helped by the health care expansion he got through the Senate considered that part-time help.  How did he afford to live?  First off, his wife works as well and he worked an extra job as well teaching constitutional law part time.  Is that supposed to be a bad thing?  It's quite amazing to me that people would look at the choice of the President of the Harvard Law Review to take a job paying $56,000 in public service  instead of the millions he could have been making if he took another path as somehow a bad thing.  

How did he pay for his house?  He wrote a best-selling book.  Two actually.  That's how he was able to pay for his house and that's how he and Michelle finally were able to pay off their student loans two years ago.  Obama is the least rich of the major candidates.  Obama is the closest in experience to the lifestyle that the majority of Americans have.  And this is something bad?  

by Piuma 2008-01-12 11:22AM | 0 recs
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the point

It's pretty simple.

Clinton states that Obama was a part-time legislator; using this fact to point out his relative lack of experience.

I am using the data to document that fact.

If you like Obama this fact won't bother you. Others who don't plan to vote for him may well see this is a deficiency on his part.

You obviously don't. I do.

by SF Bay 2008-01-12 11:33AM | 0 recs
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Re: the point

What you showed in your chart was simply the legislature is often not in session.  You chart didn't make Obama a part-time legislator, it made the job a part-time position.  But we all know that is not the case.  Being a State Senator is not confined to just the time he is in session.  Would it be accurate to take the hours a teacher is actually in class divide it over the course of the year? I'm sure if you did that teachers would look like part-time positions, but that's hardly the case.  

This is the type of argument which should be beneath someone running for President.  What is the point of demeaning the service of Illinois State Senators, or any State Senators?  The whole point of experience is not how many hours you've logged, it is what you've learned and what it has taught you in how to do your job well.  

by Piuma 2008-01-12 11:45AM | 0 recs
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On this we agree

I simply don't think Obama has learned enough to take on the Presidency. And, I will vote for Hillary in my primary for that reason. Good luck, though with your chosen candidate.

by SF Bay 2008-01-12 12:00PM | 0 recs
Eatapeach
i think you would be amazed...

if you did the same thing to the senate while she's been a senator.  when i last had a client in the senate, they were scheduled tuesday through thursday over about eight months.  according to your definition, that isn't a full time job, either.  i don't happen to agree, but it's not my definition...

by bored now 2008-01-12 12:32PM | 0 recs

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