* House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Rep. Elaine Nekritz have filed a new pension reform bill, HB 3411. Video of the press conference, via BlueRoomStream.com, is here.
It appears to have a sorta kinda cost shift in it. From the press release…
• Creates Tier 3 defined benefit/defined contribution plan for SURS and TRS members who start work after January 1, 2014. Local Employers and employees will be responsible for funding these plans.
Members (public employees hired before 2011)
• Cost-of-living adjustments apply only to the first $25,000 of the employees’ pension
o That limit is reduced to the first $20,000 for employees eligible for Social Security
• COLAs are delayed until the employee turns 67 or five years after retirement, whichever comes first
o This applies to all employees and retirees who are currently receiving COLAs
• Retirement age is increased by:
o No increase for employees age 45 and older
o One year for employees age 40 to 44
o Three years for employees age 35 to 39
o Five years for employees age 34 and younger
• Employees would be required to contribute more toward their pensions by:
o One percent starting July 1, 2013
o Two percent starting July 1, 2014
• Pensionable salary – the amount of salary that counts toward a pension – is limited to the higher of the Social Security wage base or the participant’s salary when the legislation becomes law
• All new employees in the Teachers Retirement System and State University Retirement System are placed in a stacked hybrid plan (combination defined benefit and defined contribution plan)
o Employees are guaranteed a minimum defined benefit
o Employers and employees contribute an additional amount in to a 401(k) style benefit plan
o Local school districts can negotiate the generosity and cost of the 401(k) benefit with employees
• TRS and SURS employees hired before the effective date can choose to remain in Tier 2 or join the stacked hybrid plan (Tier 3)
• COLAs for General Assembly Retirement System members will match those of Tier 2 members in the other pension systems
• Hybrid Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit plan
• Defined Benefit component:
o Employee contribution is 4% of pay
o Final Average Salary = Highest 8 out of last 10 years
o Unreduced retirement at 67 and 5 years of service
o Reduced retirement at 62 and 10 years of service
o 1.1% annual accrual rate
o COLA is lesser of 3% or ½ CPI, simple starting at age 67
• Defined Contribution component:
o Employee contribution is 5% of pay
o Local employer can make optional matching contribution (pursuant to local contracts) of between 3% and 10% of pay
o Ability for the DC plan to be invested in existed investments in the system and managed by the system for employees.
o 5 years to vest in the employer contributions.
• Employer contributions will be on a 30-year level-funding plan to achieve 100 percent funding
• State contributions will be enforced through court action or intercept of other state funds
• Revenue currently being used to repay pension obligation bonds will be used to pay down our unfunded liability once the pension obligation bonds are paid off
Amends the General Provisions, General Assembly, State Employee, State Universities, and Downstate Teacher Articles of the Illinois Pension Code. In the Downstate Teacher and State Universities Articles, creates a Tier 3 composite defined-benefit, defined-contribution retirement plan for employees hired on or after January 1, 2014 and certain others. Makes corresponding changes in other parts of those Articles and in the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act. Increases the retirement age for certain Tier I members and participants. Changes the conditions of eligibility for, and the amount of, automatic annual increases for Tier I retirees. Increases required employee contributions for Tier I members and participants. Limits pensionable salary for Tier I and Tier 3 participants. Changes the required State contribution to each of the affected retirement systems so that those systems are 100% funded by 2043. Adds State funding guarantees. Makes other changes. Amends the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to provide that this amendatory Act takes precedence. Amends the State Finance Act. To the list of standardized items of appropriation, adds “State retirement contribution for annual normal cost” and “State retirement contribution for unfunded accrued liability”. Defines those terms. Amends the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget Act. Adds those terms to a list of classifications to be used in statements and estimates of expenditures submitted to the Office in connection with the preparation of a State budget. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Includes an inseverability provision. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
The latest plan does not give employees a choice of retirement benefits, something Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, has said is essential for a pension reform plan to be found constitutional. Cross and Nekritz said they believe the plan is constitutional anyway.
“We feel very strongly that there are legal opinions that support this as constitutional,” Nekritz said.
“Anything is going to end up in the courts,” Cross said. “The reality is nobody knows (how the courts will rule).”
* Yeesterday’s hours-long debate on concealed carry was at times brutal…
Tempers rose and ebbed as frustrated Republicans questioned the majority’s motives. Democrats booed and shouted “No!” when Rep. Jim Sacia suggested imposing gun limits across Illinois because of Chicago’s homicide problem would be like forcing statewide castration because of a population boom in the city.
“If you’re having too many kids, you want me to get castrated,” said former FBI agent Sacia, a Pecatonica Republican. “That was an analogy to show how silly this is. You bet I used Chicago as an example because you’re the folks that want this craziness.”
The House began the day with 27 separate amendments dealing with concealed carry, many of which restricted where guns could be carried. Gun prohibitions in schools, casinos, stadiums and other locales go OK’d in amendments that go so far as to include parking lots, meaning firearms couldn’t be stored in cars while gun-owners go inside.
“You’re spray-painting red circles around all these places, and at the end of the day, the whole state is going to be red and you won’t be able to carry a gun anywhere,” Phelps said.
As the day dragged on, the approach faced a series of setbacks. The House rejected successive amendments banning guns from colleges, establishments that sell alcohol, and public gatherings or rallies.
Democrats soon withdrew 12 amendments, including requirements for 40 hours of firearms training in classrooms and the field; carrying $1 million in liability insurance; and for a psychological fitness examination, moving straight to the Phelps amendment, which is language taken as a whole from a separate concealed-carry bill he’s introduced, but didn’t get a hearing Tuesday.
* House Republican Leader Tom Cross, who has introduced dozens of empty shell bills, claimed the Democrats were wasting time. But he did make some good points…
With Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman, already picking up suburban seats in the last election, Republicans feared he was setting his sights on gaining even more ground rather than actually trying to address the concealed carry issue. Republicans questioned why Democrats were focusing on the gun issue now, in this fashion, rather than on Illinois’ budget problems and $96.8 billion pension debt.
Republican Minority Leader Tom Cross asked state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, whether her gun amendment does anything to address the state’s pension crisis. Feigenholtz said the proposal was an “attempt to save lives.”
“This bill can’t pass out of the House like it is, nor can it go to the Senate, so how does that save a life?” Cross said.
The Trib’s analysis is correct and Cross’ last quote was absolutely spot on.
Taking roll call votes on separate issues, although preliminary, did give lawmakers a chance to essentially “explain their votes” to constituents later, said Kent Redfield, emeritus professor of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield. said.
“Someone could say ‘Hey, I fought the hard fight,’ but ultimately … the choice was either to pass what was in front of me or to automatically have weapons in the street,” he said.
Tuesday’s unusual approach also could give some leverage to House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, in negotiations over a final bill, Redfield said.
“Let’s assume a vote to exclude guns on mass transit gets 70 or 80 votes,” he said. “If you’ve got a big majority for something that (pro-gun supporters) didn’t want, then that would give you leverage in negotiations.”
Democratic Rep. Michael Zalewski of Riverside said that today’s session was useful for getting members to grasp the complexity of the issue and getting a feel for where their preferences lie. “I think we needed this particular day to ensure that people were aware of the issues that we face on this. Everyone assumes that we can just pass a bill and this will all figure itself out, but there’s so many … factors that go into this and how we balance protecting public safety with the constitutional right to carry a weapon, so we needed this for people to start thinking about the issue.” He said the votes on the amendments banning guns were instructive about what proposals could receive support in a final bill. “We may not be able to put a restriction on what people do in a public way. We may only be able to regulate schools and mass transit and parks and things. So that’s my takeaway.”
In a key test vote, Chicago-area mass-transit users couldn’t take concealed weapons on public trains or buses under legislation that moved forward in the Illinois House Tuesday during a more than a seven-hour session on guns.
But in later action, the House went on record supporting a broad concealed-carry amendment written by gun-rights advocates, an initiative that was adopted shortly before 9 p.m. by a 67-48 margin. It explicitly permitted guns on public transportation.
The mass-transit amendment by Rep. Deb Mell (D-Chicago) and backed by gun-control advocates advanced 65-45 with four voting “present.” It represented one of the biggest of more than a dozen votes the House took Tuesday that could help shape a broader concealed-carry bill that likely will surface in the chamber this spring. […]
An amendment pushed by Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg), the leading House champion of concealed-carry, won a majority in the House but fell short of the 71-vote supermajority that could be required in the House once a final concealed-carry package gets voted on. That supermajority also would be needed to fend off a possible veto by Gov. Pat Quinn.
Backed by the National Rifle Association, Phelps’ amendment dictates that the State Police “shall” issue $80 concealed-carry permits to those who undergo training and haven’t been adjudicated as mentally ill. His plan would bar concealed weapons in government buildings, bars, airports, schools, child-care centers, casinos, amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, community colleges and universities.
* As if Aaron Schock doesn’t enough trouble with some shadowy super PAC funding negative ads and mailers against him. Now, the Club For Growth has him in the crosshairs. From Illinois Review…
The conservative political action group Club for Growth has a low tolerance for Republican Congress members that score low on their annual scorecard. Wednesday Club for Growth announced a new website, “PrimaryMyCongressman.com” in which they will feature two Illinois GOP Congressmen - Adam Kinzinger and Aaron Schock - now in the group’s crosshairs for 2014.
Aaron Schock likes to portray himself as a defender of economic freedom, but his record is not consistent with that portrayal. His website claims that he’s focused on “fighting the massive expansion of government spending and debt.” However, one of the first votes Schock took in the House was against cutting all of the spending projects from Obama’s failed $800 billion stimulus bill, joining only 43 Republicans. He voted for the August 2011 debt limit deal that gave Obama a $2.1 trillion increase in the national debt, and he’s been a consistent supporter of keeping Davis-Bacon wage requirements for federal projects, nothing but an anti-free market giveaway to big labor.
Schock has a 61 percent lifetime rating with the Club For Growth, but apparently that’s not good enough.
* As I’ve told you before, Adam Kinzinger has been traveling the state and talking about how the Republican Party needs to moderate its message. He was in Quincy recently and delivered the same message, along with a plug for Schock…
n his speech, Kinzinger primarily focused on the idea that Republicans should calm themselves in their interactions with others in order to advance the message. He alluded to other Congressman who “go on Fox News and see who can scream the loudest.” However, he didn’t name any names.
He also criticized the use of the term “RINO”, which stands for “Republican in Name Only” and is typically used to describe a Republican who either isn’t conservative or has recently voted with the Democrats. Kinzinger said that anybody who was with him a majority of the time was good enough to be in the party.
He said that Democrats would never kick somebody out of their party who wasn’t ideologically pure and that Republicans shouldn’t either if they wanted to build the party.
The message received mixed reactions from the audience.
However, the most interesting part of Kinzinger’s speech came at the beginning when he called out potential gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, directly accusing him of being behind recent radio and TV ads targeting Rep. Aaron Schock.
Rauner had been in attendance and gave a short speech but had ducked out just prior to Kinzinger’s speech.
Kinzinger said that “a million dollars spent by a Republican against a Republican is as good as two million spent by a Democrat.”
Kinzinger zinged Congress at a 2010 Homer/Lockport Tea Party Rally as a candidate, saying “We should have been talking about our belief in the private sector. We should have been talking about what it takes to allow entrepreneurs and small business owners to create jobs. We should have been talking about tightening our belts…” But as a member of Congress, Kinzinger voted against cutting $15 million the Preisidio Trust Fund, leaving him as one of just 10 Republicans in favor of a subsidy for a national park in San Francisco that is a pet project of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s.
