Gov. Pat Quinn today announced that he’s calling a special session for Aug. 17 to deal with pensions, though the session will most likely only address state workers in the State Employees’ Retirement System and the legislative pension system.
The Illinois House was already scheduled to be in Springfield that day to handle the matter of Chicago lawmaker Derrick Smith, who is facing criminal charges for allegedly accepting a bribe. Quinn is asking that the Senate head to Springfield, too, to come up with a solution to the pension issue for two of the state’s pension systems — state employees’ and lawmakers’.
A bill to address those two pension systems has already passed the Senate. It would apply to all state employees hired before Jan. 1, 2011 and would force them to choose between keeping their current cost of living increases in retirement or accepting less money in exchange for receiving health insurance.
Quinn also said during the same luncheon at the Chicago City Club Monday during which he announced the special session that he believes school districts should start picking up the tab for employees’ pensions rather than the state and said the shift could be implemented over a 12-year period.
Stay tuned to the IEA website for any changes in information, and follow the IEA on twitter and facebook, where you can receive up-to-the-minute news on pensions and other topics.
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
I find it very hard to believe that any sane person would think that making us choose btween our COLA and keeping “access” to insurance qualifies as consititutional
What is next: You may still get a pension check, but you cannot cash it? But most importantly I would like an asnwer as to what they mean by “access” to insurance…I have “access” to buy a Mercedes, but I can’t afford it!
This will end up in court no doubt, so get ready everyone.
There are those that look out for themselves and not for the greater common good, sad but true. Hard to find individuals that stand up for what is right instead of what is expedient/self-serving.
We worked so hard to get this guy elected and he stabs us in the back over and over again!
Gov. Quinn and his crony legislators fail to even acknowledge that current retirees have planned and calculated their retirement earnings on the existing pension system and have no time in their futures to turn around and try to adjust to a lesser amount, or obtain another job to offset the loss of income. Most retirees are simply too old to be accepted back into the job market, no matter how small the job. I taught for thirty-five years and then some, contributing my share to the current pension system, never dreaming that it would change on a whim to pay state debts. Precious votes are at stake here, not to mention, retiree heartache. Illinois government – get a conscience!