The state’s pension system is underfunded by more than $100 billion, and beyond repair. When it comes to reforming the system, lawmakers’ hands are tied. On Friday the court ruled that the retirement benefits offered on current workers’ first day of employment can never be changed; only new hires can earn retirement benefits differently.
So if changes can’t be made, here is what Gov. Bruce Rauner should do: Lay off the entire state workforce, and close the pension system. Work with the General Assembly to open a different retirement plan for newly hired government workers, modeled after the nation’s most popular retirement vehicle: the 401(k). Then offer to rehire state workers under the new retirement plan.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight.
State laws will need to be changed. Pension benefits earned to date will need to be paid.
The government unions will file lawsuits, and the legality of this strategy will be challenged. Understandably, some workers will turn down the new deal. Daily operations of state government will be disrupted — and potentially result in a government shutdown.
But even if all those things happen, the ultimate outcome will be better than what’s ahead if the state does nothing.
Moreover, no possible claim can be made that no less drastic measures were available when balancing pension obligations with other State expenditures became problematic
The General Assembly may not legislate on a subject withdrawn from its authority by the constitution
So, yeah, the Supremes will approve this idea for sure.
Right.
* When those employees were hired, they were promised pension benefits. And if they quit their jobs for a while and then returned to government service they picked up where they left off. The Supreme Court was crystal clear. The General Assembly can’t break that contract now.
The promotions meant to drum up interest in horse racing at 90-year-old Fairmount Park among customers more comfortable staring at an iPhone than a tip sheet are creative and constant.
Horse Hooky is designed to lure those willing to skip out of work early each Tuesday to drink cheap draft beer and eat even cheaper hot dogs. Couch potatoes can rent six-person sofas in the grandstand. Saturday nights in the summer offer live bands, and more cheap beer.
Despite the party vibe, attendance continues to plummet at this southwestern Illinois horse track and the state’s four others. Purses are low, betting is down and horse owners are increasingly spurning Illinois tracks for venues in Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and other nearby states that have paired some casinos with ponies, according to track owners.
“We’re the third biggest market in the country, and we’re getting beat out by Indiana, Iowa, Arkansas and Minnesota,” according to Glen Berman, executive director of the Chicago-based Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “It just shouldn’t be.” […]
(T)he average total pay-out this year in a state-bred thoroughbred race at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago was less than $25,000, Berman said, less than half the amount paid to winners in Iowa and at least $12,000 less than tracks in Indiana and Minnesota. At Fairmount Park, the track’s 54 racing days represents a 35 percent reduction from the yearly activity eight years earlier, and in 2000, when the track discontinued harness racing, there were more than 150 days on the schedule.
* The Question: Time for slots at tracks? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Senate President John Cullerton actually used the “B-word”…
Lawmakers also take issue with his style, complaining that Rauner treats them like “middle management.” They say his aides have taken a position that the budget is their problem, and unless they agree to the governor’s wishes, he’ll keep cutting services.
“He must think we’re going to come to him and say: ‘We’ll do whatever you want, just let us pass a tax increase because we need it so much,’ ” says Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.
“As if the state budget is our problem and, whether we have a state budget or not, it’s not a big deal for him.”
Cullerton says Rauner is mistaken if he thinks his hand is strengthened after the May 31 deadline passes when legislators must present a balanced budget. He argues that if the Legislature goes into overtime, the areas the governor wants to cut will instead automatically get funded by law — including Medicaid.
“What would be shortchanged would be what he cares about — education,” Cullerton says. “He doesn’t have the leverage he thinks he has. Obviously, you can be elected governor and know nothing about the office. [Ex-Gov. Rod] Blagojevich did it twice. It wasn’t just Rauner.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Saturday that he is not worried about passing a budget, even after House Democrats struck down a portion of his proposal.
The Republican governor made the remarks before giving his commencement address to 320 graduates at Lincoln College. House Democrats brought the human services portion Rauner’s proposed budget to the floor Thursday, where it received zero “yes” votes. Republicans, who voted “present” in protest, called it a blatantly partisan attack at a time when bipartisanism is woefully necessary.
“I’m not too concerned about anything going on right now in the legislature because in difficult negotiations there tends to be some political theater, I’ll call it,” Rauner said.
He said the budget working groups and chiefs of staff from his office and the legislative leaders are working well together, and he expects progress before the spring legislative session ends May 31. The state is facing a $6 billion budget gap for the fiscal year that begins July 1, and Rauner has proposed closing it without any new revenue.
“Government negotiations often involve a certain amount of political theater,” Rauner said. “That’s fine. It’s not very relevant. It’s all part of the process. It’s fine. No big issue.”
In fact, he said that while he hasn’t spoken to Madigan “in a number of days,” top officials in his administration met with senior staff of the four legislative leaders for four hours on Thursday.
“They’re working through what our (legislative and administration) working groups have done this week,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic things are going well. We’re getting some progress.”
He said he wasn’t disheartened by the setbacks of the last week.
“That’s why I wanted the job. I knew it was going to be hard. That’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to take this stuff on,” Rauner said.
Subscribers know a bit more about that meeting last week.
* Nothing yet from the governor’s office. From the Illinois AFL-CIO…
Village of Cambridge has pulled the Rauner anti-worker resolution from its agenda for Monday (May 11).
Rauner anti-worker resolution not called at Henry County committee [Friday] morning. Big turnout from labor and community. Great work. May be brought up for hearings in future. We’ll keep you posted.
The agenda item was to discuss rescinding the bad resolution, which had been hurriedly passed. Apparently the item has been pulled to stifle debate. I understand that Cambridge residents are still turning out tonight to make clear they want their voices heard.
* Meanwhile, we’re coming up to an historical milestone. Almost 34 years ago on May 15, 1981 the Republican-controlled Illinois House debated and overwhelmingly defeated (138-25) a “right to work” bill sponsored by DuPage County GOP Rep. Ray Hudson. The debate transcript is here.
This proposal is in a very real sense a link in the chain of American liberty. This measure does in a very real sense epitomize the age old struggle between capitalism and freedom. House Bill 831 simply provides the First Amendment right of our citizens to associate or to refrain from associating in a labor union.” […]
This seems fair. It provides freedom of choice for the worker. It not only seems fair it is fair. The worker joins or doesn’t join but either way he has a job. The union gains because its members are on the rolls paying dues, contributing to Pension Funds and all of the rest of it not because he or she is forced to but because that employee wants to. Because they see in their membership something they really believe is worth having and keeping voluntarily. Of course, this voluntary membership could test the unions’ metal. Of course, this voluntary membership would require responsive and responsible union leadership, but is that so bad? I don’t think so. Why not give the Illinois worker this fundamental right of free choice?
* From Democratic Rep. Jim McPike’s remarks during debate…
…The only thing that is required of that employee is to pay union dues. to pay his fair share. Now, why is that important? It is important because federal law requires that the union, if a union is voted in, federal law requires that that union represent everyone at the plant. They must negotiate fringe benefits, salary increases, holidays, all of their benefits. Not just for union members in good standing but for everyone at the plant. If someone has a grievance they must represent that person at grievance hearings against the employer. Since there are associated costs that the union has in negotiating contracts and representing people at grievance hearings unions feel that workers who share in the benefits of a union should pay for the cost associated with the union. And that’s all the law says. That there can be no free loaders at a given plant. That since everyone benefits from a union everyone should pay for the cost of that union.
“I’m happy to see this is going down the tubes where it ought to be. It’s not been here for a vote positively for 45 years and I hope it doesn’t come back in 45 years.'’
* Bernie profiles Republican congressional candidate Mike Flynn…
While he describes himself as a “pro-life libertarian,” he also said he voted in a Democratic primary in Virginia in 2008 because he wanted to support a local candidate he knew. He did vote for Barack Obama for president on that ballot.
“I thought it would be my only chance to vote against Hillary,” he said of 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
It may seem like a little thing, until you remember what happened to Kirk Dillard five years ago in the GOP primary after he supported Obama. If Flynn gets any traction and tries to portray Sen. Darin LaHood as some sort of Republicrat centrist, you can bet good money you’ll see the admission about voting for Obama in a mailer and/or TV ad - sans the Hillary stuff, of course.
Flynn says his family has been in Quincy for six generations, but he’s been in the Washington area for 20 years. He is married with four children, ages 9 to 17, and living in Alexandria, Virginia. He got an apartment in Quincy to run for Schock’s seat, and he says “there would be a transition” and his family would move to Illinois if he wins. He lived in Springfield while on the Illinois House Republican staff from 1992 to 1995. […]
In response to some issues raised by Flynn, LaHood’s campaign spokeswoman, Karen Disharoon, wrote in an email, “It’s impossible to change D.C. with a candidate from D.C., and that’s why Darin’s message of eliminating wasteful spending in government, fighting to repeal Obamacare, and working for term limits to get rid of the career politicians in both parties resonates with the families of central Illinois.” She also said LaHood was “the chief prosecutor of an anti-terrorism unit” and understands national security threats.
* Footnote 12 of the Illinois Supreme Court’s pension ruling…
Additional benefits may always be added, of course (see Kraus v. Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund, 72 Ill. App. 3d at 849), and the State may require additional employee contributions or other consideration in exchange (see Gualano v. City of Des Plaines, 139 Ill. App. 3d 456, 459 (1985). However, once the additional benefits are in place and the employee continues to work, remains a member of a covered retirement system, and complies with any qualifications imposed when the additional benefits were first offered, the additional benefits cannot be unilaterally diminished or eliminated. See, e.g., Taft v. Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund, 133 Ill. App. 3d 566, 572 (1985); Carr v. Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund, 158 Ill. App. 3d 7, 9-10 (1987); cf. Kuhlmann v. Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund, 106 Ill. App. 3d 603, 609 (1982) (member not eligible for increase in benefits where he had ceased contributing to the pension fund prior to the change in the law). [Emphasis added.]
To my eyes, the footnote seems to imply that Senate President John Cullerton’s “consideration” theory may pass muster. Cullerton would give workers a choice of allowing their raises going forward to be pensionable without the 3 percent compounded COLA or keep the compounded COLA without calculating raises going forward.
Indeed, I talked with Cullerton this morning and he believes that the footnote fully exonerates his approach. His ideas need to be considered as soon as possible. Tick freaking tock, people.
Also, too, it doesn’t look like the Supremes believe that Gov. Rauner’s idea - move all current employees into a Tier 2 system without providing consideration - will pass constitutional muster.
* And speaking of footnotes, the Supremes have in the past refused to order the General Assembly to fully fund the pension systems. However, check out Footnote 3…
Consistent with an earlier opinion by this court in McNamee v. State, 173 Ill. 2d 433 (1996), and comments at the Constitutional Convention, we did not, however, foreclose the possibility that a direct action could be brought by pension system members to compel funding if a pension fund were on the verge of default or imminent bankruptcy. Sklodowski, 182 Ill. 2d at 232-33.
It’s debatable whether state and local pension systems can declare bankruptcy, but the systems could lapse into technical default. If that does happen, the court has staked out its authority to “compel funding” and that footnote was a crystal clear warning shot.
While the group only released the numbers about Charters, we obtained a copy of the full poll, which includes data on state right track/wrong track, governor job approval and legislature job approval. It was done by Public Opinion Strategies, which you know is very good and is of registered voters. It was done after the so-called Good Friday cuts and before the cuts were rescinded.
After staging a mock trial of billionaire Governor Bruce Rauner at Wellington Avenue Church in Chicago yesterday, 300 seniors, religious leaders and workers piled into school buses to deliver an arrest warrant at one of the Governor’s mansions. Organizers of the event say Gov. Rauner is guilty of trying to balance the budget on the backs of seniors and people who are struggling to get by, instead of raising revenue from the wealthy and big corporations.
“Governor Rauner’s talk about ’shared sacrifice’ is a joke,” said Jessie Avraham, a member of Jane Addams Senior Caucus. “Big corporations and the wealthy aren’t ’sacrificing’ anything, they reap the rewards when they don’t pay their fair share. The Governor’s budget cuts threaten the very survival of seniors who would have to sacrifice quality of life; for many, the cuts could mean a death sentence.” […]
This Event was organized by a broad-based coalition of community groups from around Chicago including Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Action NOW, ADAPT, Community Renewal Society, Grassroots Collaborative, Fight for $15, Indiana Illinois Regional Organizing Network, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, ONE Northside, National People’s Action, SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana.
Making his first post-election appearance at the Capitol on Thursday, Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner said he hopes the Illinois Supreme Court eventually will provide guidance on what changes are acceptable when it comes to fixing the state’s more than $100 billion debt in the government worker pension system. […]
“My preference is probably to wait until the Supreme Court rules so we have some ground rules for what probably works and won’t work. I think that’s the smarter way to do it,” Rauner said.
Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner said Monday that he was hardly surprised by a judge’s ruling last week that found Democrats’ landmark 2013 pension reform law to be unconstitutional.
But he said he hoped future appeals of the decision would supply a blueprint for what type of reform might pass constitutional muster. […]
“Hopefully they will give us some feedback that will help guide the discussion for future modifications as appropriate for the pensions,” Rauner said.
Rauner said he didn’t appreciate several suggestions for pensions fixes that the Supreme Court included in its 38-page decision. The unanimous decision included suggestions by the court that the state raise new revenue or enact a new schedule for repaying pension debt.
“I’m not sure it makes sense for the judiciary to comment on government policy. I think it’s their role to interpret the law, the existing law,” Rauner said.
I recently obtained a document distributed by the governor’s office detailing the membership list and meeting times and locations of the secret state legislative “working groups.”
The governor’s office has insisted that not only should legislators dummy up about what goes on at the groups’ meetings - which are designed to forge compromises on the governor’s “Turnaround Agenda” - but also that outsiders should not even know the membership of the groups or when and where they’re getting together.
That’s pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. Many moons ago, I began writing about private legislative caucus meetings. That didn’t endear me to the powers that be, but I thought the meetings were too important to the Statehouse process to ignore. I still think that, although caucus meetings are somewhat less important these days.
So, I exerted a bit of effort and eventually scored the governor’s document.
The working group tasked with hammering out a potential tax hike is so secret that its very existence would not be confirmed by members I contacted. Legislators were reportedly warned by the governor’s office that if any word leaked about the group then Gov. Bruce Rauner would refuse to increase taxes.
Yep, he’s a control freak.
The group was nicknamed “Vegas” by some of its members because what happens in the group is supposed to stay in the group. It’s official name is listed as “HOLD” on the governor’s document. It’s apparently not an acronym. “They were that afraid to put things in writing,” explained one source. “So just ‘hold’ this slot open.”
I kid you not.
Republican state Reps. Patricia Bellock and David Leitch are on the HOLD group, as well as Democratic Rep. John Bradley. Senate Democrats Heather Steans and Toi Hutchinson are also on the super secret group, as are Republican Sens. Pam Althoff and Karen McConnaughay. The governor’s top staff abruptly shut down a HOLD meeting last week, calling House Speaker Michael Madigan’s unilateral advancement of a budget bill a “hostile action.”
The “Economic Growth” working group will tackle issues like workers’ compensation insurance, the governor’s local “right to work zones” proposal, tort reform and the minimum wage. Democratic Reps. Jay Hoffman and Art Turner; Republican Reps. Mike Tryon, David Leitch and Dwight Kay; Democratic Sens. Kimberly Lightford and Kwame Raoul; and Republican Sens Matt Murphy and Jim Oberweis are on the group. Some initial progress is being made on workers’ comp reform, I’m told.
The “Taxpayer Protection” working group discusses issues like the governor’s proposed property tax freeze. Members were told that the governor’s initial bargaining position is a permanent freeze. Democratic Senators Gary Forby and Andy Manar are on the working group, as well as Republican Sens. Dan Duffy and Chris Nybo. Democratic Reps. John Bradley and Barbara Flynn Currie and GOP Reps. David Harris and Ed Sullivan are also on the working group.
I wrote recently about the “Transforming Government” group, which featured the Democratic throwdown with the governor’s staff over a legislative term limits constitutional amendment. It’s also dealing with implementing the governor’s executive order on state worker ethics and banning public employee union contributions to the executive branch. Democratic Reps. Lou Lang and Elgie Sims; Republican Reps. Norine Hammond and Chad Hays; Democratic Sen. Don Harmon; and Republican Sens. Darin LaHood and Chapin Rose are all on the committee.
The governor wants to move current state employees and teachers out of their “Tier 1″ pension plans and into a “Tier 2″ plan that provides far fewer benefits. His “Pension Reform” working group is comprised of Democratic Rep. Elaine Nekritz, Senate Democrat Daniel Biss, and HGOPs Tom Morrison and Ron Sandack, along with SGOPs Bill Brady and Pam Althoff.
Gov. Rauner has been promising a major road and transit construction plan since the campaign. The “Capital Plan” working group is comprised of SDems John Sullivan and Marty Sandoval, SGOPs Dave Syverson and Karen McConnaughay, HDems Bob Rita and Christian Mitchell and HGOPs Norine Hammond and Ed Sullivan. They didn’t get much done at their last meeting because the governor refused to talk about how to pay for it.
The “Budget Implementation” working group is huge. The last meeting was attended by 38 people, including all legislative appropriations committee chairs. Getting things accomplished with a group that size could be difficult.
The “Unemployment Insurance” working group will use an “agreed bill” process to find a way to bring down employer costs. Republican Sens. Sue Rezin and Kyle McCarter are serving on the group, as is Democratic Sen. Terry Link and Democratic Rep. Jay Hoffman, along with House Republicans John Anthony and Dwight Kay.
OK, can we stop with all the crazy secrecy now, please?
Subscribers have more details about individual working group meetings.
