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 "Illinois pension systems are just too rich to be afforded,"
Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan said Tuesday as lawmakers
began on a path to pension reform.
Madigan said Illinois cannot guarantee unionized, public employees 3
percent raises for the rest of their lives.
"We all got drawn into a trap, and we all talked about the
(cost-of-living adjustment)," Madigan said. "The 3 percent
compounded pay increase in retirement is the furthest thing from a COLA, because
it has nothing to do with the cost of living."
TOO RICH:
Madigan admits to what taxpayers have known for years. |
Debate continues over whether lawmakers could have — or should have
— gone further with pension reform.
But the fact Illinois, a deep blue state, voted to stand up for
taxpayers and stand against public employee unions shows how far the
state has progressed over the past decade.
In 2005, then Gov. Rod Blagojevich — with union support — skipped
Illinois' pension payment.
That bill has come due, and lawmakers are now listening to
taxpayers.
"The public is pushing us to do something. They want something
done," state Rep. Ed Sullivan, R-Mundelein, said. "A lot of people
don't have pensions. Their 401(k)'s have been diminished. And so,
they are looking at this pension system as a special deal for a lot of folks."
Illinois' public employees decry the reforms, saying school teachers
and public workers will now have to scrape to make ends meet in
retirement.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, says the unions should learn some
basic math.
"The average (teacher) who worked for 30 years had a starting
pension of over $72,000," Ives said. "The average Social Security
recipient receives just over $14,000, and they have to work almost a decade
longer to receive that benefit."
[to top of second column] |
Illinois is spending nearly 25 percent of its money on retirement
payments. Democrats know this.
"We have a crisis. We have a problem," said state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Northbrook.
Nekrtiz has said pension reforms are needed to ensure Illinois can
pay for schools, roads and public safety. You know, to do the work
of a functioning government.
Just a handful of Democrats are sticking by the adopted stance of
public employee unions, which paint government workers as victims.
THIEF:
Holmes says Illinois pension reform is worse than a thief in the
night. |
"(Pension reform) is actually no different than a thief coming into
your house in the night and stealing your valuables," state Sen.
Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, said. "The difference is, this isn't a thief
coming in the night. This is your elected representative coming to
you; looking you straight in the eye and saying, ‘I'm going to take
away your future.'"
The next debate at the Illinois Statehouse will be over how
Democrats, who control state government, spend the $1.8 billion in
"savings" from Tuesday's pension reform vote.
Ives expects the Legislature to come back to pensions, because
there's more work to be done. "This is a step backward," Ives said.
"You're actually asking the people that retire with $2 million
pensions, and contribute about $120,000 of raw contributions, to pay less."
If Illinois fails to end defined benefit pensions, and taxpayers
flee the state, no one will be left to pay for the pension promises
anyway, she said.
___
Contact Benjamin Yount at
Ben@IllinoisWatchdog.org and find him
on Twitter:
@BenYount.
[This
article courtesy of
Illinois Watchdog.]
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