When it comes to the AFSCME contract, taxpayers still in the dark

After all, there is a basic democratic principle in play: An informed citizenry can hold its government in check. But how can we hold Quinn accountable if the information we receive is only what he chooses to share?

Scott Reeder
Illinois News Network

I was chatting with a friend the other day who is a state bureaucrat and a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

She had an interesting analogy for labor negotiations.

“I’ve always felt it was like professional wrestling. Each side tries to fire their base up – but it’s really all choreographed ahead of time. … Well, every contract they get people going. Yet they always vote for the Dem (even after all the bad mouthing). ”

Now, that is just one person’s perception.

But when it comes to the most recent contract agreed upon by the state and AFSCME, my friend seems to be on target. There is a lot we don’t know about the contract – because it hasn’t been released to the public yet.

Abdon Pallasch, a spokesman for Gov. Pat Quinn, said Thursday that copies of the contract are not being released because lawyers are still making revisions and it has yet to be signed.

But shouldn’t the taxpayers know what the governor is committing them to paying before it is signed?

After all, there is a basic democratic principle in play: An informed citizenry can hold its government in check.

But how can we hold Quinn accountable if the information we receive is only what he chooses to share?

AFSCME members must think the contract is a good deal – 96 percent of them voted in favor of it this week. But even they were dependent on reading summaries of the contract prepared by union leadership rather than being able to read the contract itself.

Two questions that come to mind:

• How much will state worker pay raises called for in the contract cost taxpayers?

• How much will taxpayers save by having state employees and retirees contribute to their health insurance?

Right now, we are dependent what we are told.

Not surprisingly, politicians – like most folks – want to put their best foot forward when describing their actions.

Quinn claims that the contract will save $900 million in health insurance premiums for the taxpayer.

Here is how Pallasch described the savings:

“Current employees will see higher health insurance rates, co-pays, etc., that vary based on their plans – that will bring in about half the $900 million over the life of the contract. The other half will come from the retirees, who, effective July 1, will start paying 1 percent of their annuity for Medicare retirees, 2 percent for non-Medicare. That rises to 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively on July 1, 2014.”

Not so fast, said Illinois Policy Institute Senior Fellow Jonathan Ingram.

“Quinn’s deal is also structured in a way that will incentivize retirees to choose Cadillac coverage over the less expensive HMO options,” Ingram said. “Because premiums are not tied to the actual cost of the plan selected, retirees will pay the same regardless of which plan they pick. They’ll have no incentive to choose a lower-cost option.

“This perverse incentive could be quite costly. The difference in costs between the Cadillac plan and the average HMO is more than $2,400 per year for a retiree not yet eligible for Medicare. Taxpayers can expect to see some of the savings wiped out entirely by retirees switching to higher-cost plans.”

Ingram was able to determine this by analyzing a portion of the AFSCME contract that had leaked out ahead of time. But we are still waiting to see contract details involving current employees.

Quinn contends that pay raises in the contract will amount to no more than $200 million. But again, because the contract is under wraps, we are left taking his word for it.