 The measure requires future workers to work until age 67 to get full
retirement benefits, sets a maximum salary on which pensions may be
calculated and limits annual increases in payments. There would be
no change in benefits for current employees.Legislative Democrats
said the changes would save more than $100 billion -- although they
didn't have exact figures from experts -- over several decades for
13 state and local pension systems covered by Illinois law,
including state programs that are underfunded by $80 billion.
But it has labor unions that represent government employees
angry. They point out that slicing future benefits does nothing to
reduce the outstanding liability.
With a 92-17 House vote and a Senate tally of 48-6, the action
reflected rare agreement between House Democrats and minority
Republicans, who have sparred for years over what has become an $11
billion deficit, who is responsible and how to fix it.
"It's very important to send the signal," said Senate President
John Cullerton, D-Chicago. "It's very important to save the money,
billions of dollars that we won't have to pay into the system in the
future."
It's a political and strategic triumph for Democrat Quinn, who
unsuccessfully pursued such a two-tiered pension program last year
to reduce the amount of money the state must contribute to
retirement systems while it wrestles with a budget deficit.
A statement from Quinn praised the effort to "stabilize the
system, protect current state employees and provide attractive
pension benefits to future state workers."
It provides that employees hired after that date would have to
work until age 67, the current age for Social Security benefits, to
get their full pensions. Those who retire at 62 would get less.
Currently, retirement benefits are calculated on an employee's
full salary. Under the new plan, any income over $106,800 would not
be included.
The size of retirees' pension checks would climb by 3 percent or
half the rate of inflation, whichever is less. That percentage would
be calculated based on the original amount instead of compounded
annually as it is now -- except for judges and members of the
General Assembly, who would continue getting compounded increases.
Fewer employees would qualify for enhanced benefits because of
the dangerous work they do. State police officers, firefighters and
prison guards would keep the extra money, while highway workers,
prison teachers and others would lose it.
Unions oppose the plan. Henry Bayer, executive director of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which
represents 70,000 government and 25,000 retirees statewide, said on
average, pensioners earn $20,000 a year.
Will Lovett, a lobbyist for the Illinois Education Association,
said surrounding states have much better retirement plans for their
teachers, so making future Illinois educators work until age 67 will
drive good teachers from the state.
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Illinois pension systems are among the most financially troubled
in the nation. They have money for benefit checks now, but the
amounts promised to future retirees outweigh the systems' assets by
roughly $80 billion.
Eventually, taxpayers will have to come up with that money.
Already, rapidly increasing annual payments to the pension systems
eat up billions of dollars in state revenue each year, leaving
little new money for government services.
"We shouldn't saddle our children and grandchildren with debt,"
Bayer said. "We're going to saddle them not only with debt, but
we're going to saddle them with pensions they can't live on."
But reducing retirement benefits would slow the growth in that
funding gap. State officials might use that slower growth to justify
making smaller pension contributions now while the state faces a
budget crisis.
Opponents argued there was little time to review the legislation,
which surfaced Tuesday. But Senate Republican Leader Christine
Radogno of Lemont, who introduced similar legislation earlier this
month, said the idea has been discussed for years.
And quick action will give lenders more confidence in the state's
fiscal picture as Illinois prepares to borrow more than $1.3 billion
for Medicaid services, school construction and transportation
projects in April, according to administration officials.
Republicans who opposed the plan argued the measure wrongly
allows the Chicago Public School pension system to skip more than $1
billion in payments during the next three years to provide money for
classrooms.
"The most important thing you could do in pension reform is you
have to make the payments," said Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville. "You
can't skip payments. That's what got our public pension systems into
this mess."
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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