[House Speaker Michael Madigan spoke at Elmhurst College yesterday for more than an hour, then held a brief press conference afterward. He almost never does that, so this will be the first of a few posts on his speech.]

* An AP reporter was obviously quite disappointed in Speaker Madigan’s speech…

Madigan is arguably the most powerful man in Springfield, with the ability to make or break deals. But anyone hoping to find out specifically where he stands on some of the state’s most urgent issues wouldn’t have learned it from his address at Elmhurst College’s Annual Government Forum.

Changing future pension benefits for current state employees would make an interesting national debate and ultimately could be decided by the courts, he told a packed room. Illinois’ underfunded pension liability now exceeds $85 billion and lawmakers already have changed benefits for future employees to help reduce the costs.

But Madigan didn’t mention that he had introduced legislation along with House Minority Leader Tom Cross to create a three-tiered pension system for current employees, and wouldn’t address reporters’ questions afterward whether there are enough Republican and Democratic votes to bring the bill to the House floor.

School districts don’t pay into teachers’ pension systems like other employers do, leaving that obligation to the state - accounting for half of the $4 billion the state pays into five pension systems annually, he complained. He said later that it would be reasonable to ask them to pay, but would not say whether anyone was planning to introduce legislation to force them to do so.

With Madigan, however, you gotta read between the lines. For instance, here’s CBS Chicago’s take on the pension issue…

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan says local school districts haven’t been paying into their teachers’ retirement systems, and he thinks it may be high time that they did. […]

“In the current budget, our payment is about $4 billion – $4 billion to those five (pension) systems. One half of the $3 billion is the TRS, the Teachers Retirement System,” Madigan said. […]

“I don’t think it’s out of line to ask the local districts ‘Why don’t you contribute to this cause? These are your employees,’” Madigan said.

And here’s WBEZ’s take on the same issue…

Pension costs that are draining Illinois’ budget could be shared by local school districts.

The idea seems to be gaining steam among top Democrats, including Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who gave a rare, hour-long speech at Elmhurst College Tuesday morning to talk about the challenges facing Illinois. […]

“I never found anybody who could tell me why the state of Illinois stepped up one day and said, ‘OK, school districts, we’ll just pick up all your pension costs,’” he said.

If the state made schools pay for their retired teachers, it would likely shift the cost to property taxes. It’s an idea that Senate President John Cullerton and Governor Pat Quinn have talked about, too, which means it could become part of legislation this spring.

* I listened to the full audio of the event (subscribe to hear it) and came away believing that Madigan was leaning toward this idea.

*** UPDATE *** Somehow, I missed this relevant story from Illinois Statehouse News…

llinois’ 12 percent increase in higher education spending this year isn’t going to benefit students. Instead, the additional funding for fiscal 2012 is going into the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, to address its underfunded pension program.

“These SURS appropriations do not go to individual institutions or agencies and are not available to be used for educational purposes,” according to the footnote in a study released Monday by Illinois State University, or ISU.

SURS, which is responsible for the pensions of the state’s university employees, is facing an unfunded liability — how much it owes in benefits compared with how much assets it has on hand — of $17.2 billion, according to its 2011 annual report.

* On the budget stuff, however, the AP reporter was spot on. From the Chicago News Cooperative…

“We’ve got huge budget problems in this state. Why? Well, there was overspending in the past and many people engaged in the overspending. It wasn’t just one or two people,” he said.

Madigan blamed the shortfalls in part on Republicans, even though Democrats have held majorities in the House and Senate and controlled the governor’s mansion since 2002. Most budget votes, including budgets that delayed or skipped pension payments, have been carried with Democratic support.

Asked whether he should bear greater blame, having served in Illinois government in an influential position for nearly 30 years, Madigan said it took more than “one person” to drive Illinois into a pattern of spending beyond its means.

* Sen. Dillard was rather diplomatic…

Madigan accepted some of the responsibility for the state’s financial woes. He said the legislature spent more than the state took in during many budget cycles, which led to the state owing millions of dollars in unpaid bills. Madigan has been House Speaker since 1983, with the exception of two years when Lee Daniels, an adjunct faculty member in Elmhurst College’s political science department, was speaker. As speaker, Madigan controls what bills come to the House floor, but said he was “one of many” who signed off on overspending.

“There are plenty of legislators from both parties who would rather spend than cut,” Madigan said following the event.

Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican, agreed with Madigan that there are numerous state lawmakers who share the blame for the state’s economic problems. He said he commends Madigan for shouldering some of the responsibility, but added that Madigan has been the one constant in the Illinois legislature throughout the economic decline.

Discuss.