Pension battle still raging
A special session of the General Assembly on Wednesday, June 19 failed to resolve the struggle over state pension funding.
The Senate, for the third time, rejected SB 1, the proposal backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan that would make draconian cuts in pension benefits for active employees and retirees. Meanwhile, Madigan once again refused to allow a vote on SB 2404, the plan backed by the We Are One Illinois union coalition.
Instead, the House and Senate both appointed conferees to a special conference committee tasked with resolving the differences between SB 1, narrowly passed by the House, and SB 2404, which won the support of a broad, bipartisan majority in the Senate.
Unfortunately, a majority of the conferees on the committee support SB 1 – signaling the attack on public employees’ retirement security isn’t letting up. Initial reports are that the committee intends to hold hearings around the state before issuing its report. The committee recommendation must be submitted to the General Assembly for final action.
The We Are One Illinois union coalition has vowed to oppose efforts to use the conference committee process as a back-door to passage of SB 1. The coalition will continue to press for adoption of the plan embodied in SB 2404 which is much fairer to employees and retirees and much more likely to be found constitutional.
Members of the newly-appointed Conference Committee include Democratic Reps. Elaine Nekritz, Arthur Turner and Michael Zalewski; Republican Reps. Darlene Senger and Jil Tracy; Democratic Sens. Kwame Raoul, Linda Holmes and Daniel Biss; and Republican Sens. Matt Murphy and William Brady.
If you live in a district represented by any member of the committee, it is critical you contact them and let them know to work toward a solution that is constitutional and fair to public employees and retirees. Tell them employees provided their fair share and shouldn’t be the target of draconian cuts!
If your representative and senator isn’t on the committee tell them to reject any plan – including anything passed by the conference committee – that does not have the backing of the We Are One Illinois union coalition!
You can contact your representative toll-free by calling 888-412-6570 or use Click-to-Call. You can also call legislators directly by looking them up here.
The odds may seem stacked against public employees and retirees, but our efforts have repeatedly beat back other attempts to weaken our retirement security. It’s vital that we not give up this fight.