Teachers and other union members rallied outside a public pension
forum hosted by the Daily Herald and Reboot Illinois at Harper College
Wednesday in order to give teachers a voice in the pension debate. Progress Illinois was there for the rally.
An Illinois judge dismissed a lawsuit yesterday backed by AFSCME Council 31, and others, which aimed to
eliminate a 2012 state law that allows for changes to health care
premium rates for retirees.
The state’s biggest political issue
of 2012 has been growing unfunded pension obligations to public
employees, with the shortfall expected to hit $93 billion by next
summer. By comparison, the annual state budget is about $33 billion a
year.
Considering this, Illinois voters could have been forgiven for thinking
that a failed referendum on yesterday’s ballot regarding the approval of
pension benefit increases had something to do with these addressing the deficit. But
it really didn’t, and neither the referendum’s merits nor its key
political backers were ever made clear. Read more »
On Election Day, Illinoisans will see a referendum on the ballot that would, if approved by voters, install a state constitutional amendment that would boost the number of legislative votes
needed to pass statewide pension increases for public employees.
If passed, Amendment 49
would require a three-fifths, or super majority, vote of approval by the General
Assembly to make any increases in public employee pensions. As it stands now, only a simple
majority, or one-half of the legislative vote, is needed to increase the pensions of state employees. The amendment would also apply to city and county employees as well as educators, meaning that local governments, school boards and similar legislative bodies would also be beholden to the super majority vote requirement.
The controversial amendment,
sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), swept through both the Illinois Senate and House by margins of 51-2 and 113-0, respectively.
With the Illinois General Assembly holding a one-day special session Friday to address the state’s pension liabilities, unions fiercely opposed to pending legislation offered a compromise today.
We
Are One coalition members said on a conference call this afternoon that they would let
current public employees increase their pension contributions if the
state met three conditions: guaranteed funding of the state’s five
pension systems, an end to several tax loopholes, and maintenance of
today’s benefit level for current retirees. Read more »
The Illinois House will meet August 17 to vote on expelling State Rep. Derrick Smith. The legislators might also take that time to tackle a pension bill the Senate passed in May.
They were two lawsuits filed
this week in Sangamon County, home of Springfield, that challenges
reductions in health care payments made to state employees and retirees. The
lawsuits claim that legislation Quinn signed into law last month
concerning state worker health care premiums violates the pension clause
of Illinois’ constitution.
Even if the lawsuits are unsuccessful,
they may complicate stalled efforts to reduce pension benefits. “Illinois has
an unusually strong constitutional provision,” says Ron Snell, a senior
fellow at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), who has
studied state efforts to reduce pension costs. Read more »
With Illinois in a perpetual budget crisis and Gov. Pat Quinn proposing deep cuts for Medicaid, pensions, and social services, a Chicago think tank wants to amend the state constitution so the state government can impose a graduated income tax.
The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability released a report today touting the benefits of a graduated income tax. This is compared to the status quo where all residents – from Derrick Rose to your neighbor – pay five percent of their yearly income to the state.
The state’s 
On Election Day, Illinoisans will see a referendum on the ballot that would, if approved by voters, install a state constitutional amendment that would boost the number of legislative votes
needed to pass statewide pension increases for public employees.
With the Illinois General Assembly holding a one-day special session Friday to 
With Illinois in a perpetual budget crisis and Gov. Pat Quinn 