A principled stand against pension “fix”
Lawmakers met in Springfield on Tuesday for a special session on pension reform. After an early morning committee hearing, a gathering of each of the four legislative caucuses and several hours of lengthy floor debates, a pension bill passed the House and Senate, and now awaits Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature. The Illinois Policy Institute adamantly...
Lawmakers met in Springfield on Tuesday for a special session on pension reform.
After an early morning committee hearing, a gathering of each of the four legislative caucuses and several hours of lengthy floor debates, a pension bill passed the House and Senate, and now awaits Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature.
The Illinois Policy Institute adamantly opposed this bill, as it does not enact reforms commensurate to the scope of Illinois’ pension crisis. Touted as a “fix,” the conference committee’s plan produces a mere $14 billion in savings, contains a funding guarantee provision, an inadequate defined contribution option and doesn’t even come close to reducing Illinois’ unfunded liabilities enough to get the state’s fiscal house back in order.
We would like to commend the courageous legislators who took a principled stand against a measure that hurts taxpayers and fails to protect the retirement security of government workers:
- State Reps. Tom Cross, Dave McSweeney, Jeanne Ives, Tom Morrison, Dwight Kay, Brad Halbrook, David Harris, Joe Sosnowski, Brian Stewart and Mike Tryon
- State Sens. Kyle McCarter, Dan Duffy, Jason Barickman, David Luechtefeld and Dale Righter
These lawmakers cast a difficult vote, fighting for taxpayers and real pension reform.
The Institute will continue working tirelessly on this issue, as it has since its founding. Our staff is busy making sure that real reform passes so Illinois can get back on the path to prosperity.