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 The move, which would require state legislation, was part of a
plan released by Emanuel's re-election campaign ahead of an April 7
runoff election against Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy"
Garcia, who also released his fiscal plan on Friday.
Under an Illinois law, Chicago's contributions to its police and
fire pension funds will increase by about $550 million next year.
Another state law allowing cost-saving pension cuts to shore up
Chicago's municipal and laborers' retirement funds is at risk of
being voided as unconstitutional in state court.
Still, the mayor's plan advocated measures that labor unions and
others are challenging in court. These include slowing
cost-of-living increases for pensions and gradually increasing
workers' contributions to ease costs.
Emanuel also called for closing Illinois tax loopholes to gain money
for the third-biggest U.S. city, along with obtaining state approval
for a publicly owned casino.
 Garcia's plan seeks cost savings through intergovernmental
collaboration and creates a committee to examine revenue options. It
does not address possible funding sources for Garcia's campaign
pledges to hire 1,000 new police officers and to replace traffic
ticket revenue generated by red-light cameras he wants removed.
"It is too early to tell residents in the city of Chicago that we're
going to give them bad medicine without stepping back and taking a
comprehensive look and approach to how city finances will be met,"
Garcia told reporters.
He also said he opposes reducing pension benefits for current and
retired city workers.
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Emanuel received about 45 percent of the vote last month, short of
the 50 percent level needed to avoid a runoff. He leads Garcia by
51-37 percent according to a Chicago Tribune voter poll released on
Friday.
Mounting pension pressures led Moody's Investors Service to lower
Chicago's credit rating by five notches since July 2013, with the
last downgrade to Baa2 occurring on Feb. 27.
Garcia said Chicago could save as much as $350 million by
consolidating purchasing and some services with other governmental
bodies under the mayor's control, including the Chicago Public
Schools. He also said Chicago's budget could receive a $150 million
boost from reforming tax increment financing districts meant to spur
economic development within certain geographic boundaries.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; editing by Matthew Lewis)
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