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 "Make no mistake, my friends: What happens in Springfield this fall
regarding pension reform and annuitant health-care policy changes is
of critical importance to every annuitant in the state of Illinois,"
said Peters, referring to an annuitant as a person who receives
pension benefits.
Peters asked the State University Annuitants Association, which
represents current and retired faculty and staff working to preserve
their pensions, to suggest solutions to state lawmakers in order to
resolve the state's growing pension problem.
"In my opinion, leaders in public higher education in Illinois must
suggest viable alternatives that will address the very real
financial distress confronting our pension systems," he said.
Illinois' five taxpayer-supported pension systems, including
pensions for university workers, are underfunded by $130 billion. To
control that debt, lawmakers passed pension reforms this past year
that trim costs for future workers.
Kelly Kraft, Gov. Pat Quinn's budget spokeswoman, said this past
year's reforms will save $200 billion over the coming decades for
future employees, but they do little to address costs associated
with current workers and current retirees.
This spring, leaders in the Illinois House proposed to change
current benefits by having current employees pay more for their
benefits, see reductions or have retirees pay for some of their
health-care costs. In the fall veto session, state lawmakers are
expected to revisit reforming pensions for current employees.
But Peters said workers who made their contributions deserve full
retirement benefits, and the state hasn't lived up to its promises.
He pointed to state lawmakers' history of skipping or making partial
pension payments to the Illinois pension systems.
"Many individuals on our state Legislature didn't learn that lesson,
or maybe they forgot that lesson: Once you make a deal with
somebody, you keep it," Peters said.
Leo Welch, president of the State University Annuitants Association,
said the Illinois Constitution guarantees that once staff and
faculty join the system, their pensions cannot be diminished nor
impaired.
"We fully support the constitutional provisions that protect current
employees, as well as current annuitants," Welch said.
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State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley, said the state will need to
address pension payments, but the constitutionality of possibly
changing pensions for existing workers will need to be decided in
the courts.
"It is in everyone's best interest that these pension systems not
fail. That is where we are headed if we don't do something,"
Pritchard said. "Sooner or later, they are going to run out of
assets, and what are they going to pay people with?"
It's not just payments to retirees. A new report from the Illinois
Policy Institute, a free market think tank, states that within a
decade, Illinois will be paying more for university retirements than
to run the state's colleges and universities.
Northern Illinois University, like many other universities in
Illinois, has raised tuition as state money for operations dwindles.
However, Welch defends tuition hikes as a down payment for young
people and their families.
"The state should view higher education, as well as education in
general, as an investment as opposed (to) viewing it as a cost,"
Welch said. "If the economy is going to recover, it is going to
depend on educated citizenry in the state of Illinois."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By DIANE S.W. LEE]
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