Pension Theft: Illinois Senate and House pass bill slashing retirement benefits

Illinois lawmakers voted yesterday to sharply reduce the pensions of active and retired state and university employees and teachers, despite tens of thousands of phone calls and legislative office visits by union members in the final days, and hours of emotional, back-and-forth debate on the floors of the state House and Senate.

"This is no victory for Illinois, but a dark day for its citizens and public servants,” the AFSCME Council 31-led We Are One Illinois union coalition said in a statement after the votes. “Teachers, caregivers, police, and others stand to lose huge portions of their life savings because politicians chose to threaten their retirement security.”

The We Are One Illinois coalition vowed to challenge the matter in court.

The passage of the bill amounts to a cash grab of $100 billion taken directly from public employees who were promised these benefits by the state, and that they earned over the course of their careers in public service. The measure raises the retirement age up to five years for many state workers and scales back the size of and even skips some annual cost-of-living increases for retirees.

"A majority of legislators ignored and defied their oaths of office today,” We Are One said, referring to the passage of the bill that many believe violates the state’s constitution.

In fact, Senate President John Cullerton, whose earlier union-backed plan to curb pension spending was stymied by House Speaker Michael Madigan, said he remained concerned. 

"I think the bill has serious constitutional problems,” said Cullerton. “I've made that clear from the start, but now it's in front of the court and they can decide.”