Judge grants union coalition’s motion for stay of pension law

Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Belz has granted the request of the We Are One Illinois union coalition to delay implementation of the law that would cut pensions for active and retired SERS, SURS and TRS enrollees.

The judge granted a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, meaning the law – Public Act 98-599, also known as Senate Bill 1 – will not go into effect on June 1 as scheduled. The injunction will remain in effect until a determination is made on the law’s constitutionality, unless the court takes further action on the injunction prior to that time.

The We Are One Illinois coalition, of which AFSCME is a leading member, has sued to have the law overturned on the grounds that it violates the state constitution’s clear language that pension benefits for public employees cannot be “diminished or impaired.” The court found that the coalition and other plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on this argument.

The law had been set to go into effect in June. The coalition had argued that, had the law gone into effect, pension system members and the pension systems themselves would have suffered immediate harm.

"This is an important first step in our efforts to overturn this unfair, unconstitutional law and to protect retirement security for working and retired Illinois families," said Michael T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, on behalf of the coalition. "We are pleased the court prudently chose to halt implementation of these sweeping changes, which have caused so much fear and uncertainty and are likely to be overturned."