* I feel like I’m watching a tennis match…

The following statement can be attributed to Lance Trover, communications director for the Governor’s Office:

“Administration lawyers have spent weeks negotiating the best possible pension reform language with members of Senator Cullerton’s staff.

“Central to the Cullerton model is that future salary increases are part of the employee election, and that to ensure the proposal passes Constitutional muster current law must be changed to make the employee’s election permanent. On that core principal, the Governor’s legal team and the President’s legal team have agreed, and this is the model that the Governor and Republican leaders endorsed today.

“We hope the Senate President still supports this agreed upon model, originally developed by his office. If he no longer supports it, we urge him to immediately introduce new pension reform legislation that he thinks will be approved by the Supreme Court, and the governor will be open to considering it. Now is the time to act.”

* Background from Greg Hinz…

Cullerton’s plan would give workers a choice between having their pay frozen for pension purposes or retaining the 3 percent annual increase they now get that’s designed to offset inflation. Over Madigan’s opposition, Cullerton’s plan never got anywhere in the House.

…Adding… Rauner’s Q&A from earlier today…

Click to listen

And this from Fox Chicago…

“In order for President Cullerton’s bill to be constitutional, salary increases have to be taken out of collective bargaining. This is a key point. Salary increases come out of collective bargaining. So the union has nothing to do with it in the future,” Rauner said. “And each individual employee makes their own choice: do they want their salary increase in the future to be pensionable or not? It’s their choice and not the union’s choice. President Cullerton has agreed with that. That is necessary, and a requirement in order for this to be constitutional.”