Pension borrowing stalls in Senate

The Senate joined the House in adjourning days before the scheduled conclusion of the spring legislative session after failing to muster the votes needed for approval of a pension borrowing plan. 

The borrowing plan has already passed the House and is considered a crucial element of the Democratic leadership's patchwork budget package.  Insiders now claim that the Senate will come back early next week with sufficient votes to push through the pension bonding plan at that time.  But if this year's legislative session has made anything clear, it's that you can't really predict what will happen at the state Capitol these days.

Of course, what the session should have made clear to anyone with eyes to see is that Illinois desperately needs a tax increase that will begin to fill the state's $13 billion budget hole.  Absent significant new revenues, Illinois remains teetering on the brink of fiscal disaster with public schools, state univerities, state services and nonprofits that depend on state funding all in jeopardy.

AFSCME and our allies in the Responsible Budget Coalition have continued to press for passage of HB 174, a tax reform plan that will restore fiscal sanity to state government.  Make sure your legislators know that you want them to do the responsible thing--and support HB 174 to fix the state's fiscal mess.