Just in, State of Illinois has passed pension 'reform' bill.
ANALYSIS: Liars and thieves vote for 'pension reform'... State pension hopes now rest with lawsuit on constitutionality of what the General Assembly has done
Glen Brown - December 05, 2013
It was passed by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly on December 3, 2013. Illinois Senate Bill 1, the So-called “Pension Reform” Bill (or Attempt to Break a Constitutional Contract with Public Employees and Retirees)awaits the signature of Governor Pat Quinn as this is being written.
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (left) and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (right) engineered the so-called "pension reform" legislation that will rob current retirees of thousands of dollars and disrupt the retirement plans of hundreds of thousands of current and future teachers. So here is the bill created by the liars and thieves of the current Illinois General Assembly, those who are attempting to renege on their legal and moral responsibilities: a bill that will cut and suspend the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), not only for current public employees but for retirees as well; a bill that will change the date when an employee (who is now under the age of 45 years old) can retire with full benefits; a bill that will reduce the amount of pensionable salary; a bill that will contain an inefficient, inadequate self-managed or defined-contribution savings (401k) plan option, then freeze the existing defined-benefit pension and destabilize the defined-benefit pension system; a bill that will remove all pension matters from collective bargaining (except for the employer’s share); a bill that will challenge a legal and moral contract that is guaranteed by the Illinois and United States Constitutions… (1)
What D*CKS !
Fighting back:
The We Are One coalition of labor unions released the following response in response to the bill's signing:
Governor Pat Quinn has given hundreds of thousands of working and retired teachers, nurses, police, caregivers, first responders, and others no alternative but to seek justice for retirement security through the judicial system. Contrary to his belief, every Illinois citizen loses today.
It didn’t have to be this way. Bipartisan majorities in both chambers could have passed a much fairer, legal, negotiated solution - with real, substantial savings - in Senate Bill 2404.
Instead, leading politicians and their followers chose to violate their oaths of office, trample on the Illinois Constitution, and willfully ignore the plain letter of the law. In abandoning their constitutional duties, they’ve voted to slash the retirement benefits of senior citizens and working families by one-third or more.
Senate Bill 1 is attempted pension theft, and it’s illegal. Once overturned, its purported savings will evaporate, and the state’s finances and pension systems will be left in worse shape.
Our coalition has been consistently in contact with our attorneys, and today we directed them to prepare to file suit. We will challenge SB 1 as violating the constitution and ask for a stay of the legislation's implementation pending a ruling on its constitutionality.
The pension reform bill is set to take effect June 1.
We should primary any Democrat who voted for this bill.
We should also support lawsuits to overturn it!