Union coalition seeks to halt pension theft law

The We Are One Illinois coalition, which includes AFSCME and other public sector unions, has filed a motion asking the Sangamon County Circuit Court to delay the implementation of the new pension law.

The filing, a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, asks that the court halt implementation of the law – Public Act 98-599 (SB 1) – until the court rules on the We Are One lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

The coalition’s filing can be viewed on the We Are One Illinois website.

"The pension theft bill must not be implemented until the courts have ruled. If it isn't enjoined, teachers, first responders, nurses, and other state and university employees and retirees will be irreparably harmed," said Michael T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, on behalf of the coalition.

"People are being forced to make irrevocable, life-altering retirement decisions, yet they face these decisions in an uncertain environment while awaiting a court ruling.” Carrigan said. “The pension theft bill should – and, we believe, will – be overturned, but the decision to retire cannot be undone.”

The coalition’s lawsuit seeks to have the law overturned because it violates the state constitution’s clear language that pension benefits cannot be “diminished or impaired.”

In its filing for an injunction, the coalition argues that the harm to pension system members and the pension systems themselves will be immediate without an injunction, but an injunction would have no immediate impact on the state’s finances.

“To the extent that the Act purports to fix pension system funding issues, that fix is implemented over a long term,” the filing states. “The State admits in its recent budget projections that no savings would be realized from the Act until Fiscal Year 2016.”

“A complete stay of the bill's implementation is necessary to avoid irreparably harming active and retired teachers and state and university employees,” Carrigan said.

The coalition’s original complaint, which seeks to have the law overturned, can be viewed here.