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* The only way that House Speaker Michael Madigan is going to budge off his hardened pension reform position is if his Democratic caucus members demand that he do so. This is the first such public demand. Many, many more are needed, both publicly and privately, before Madigan will even begin to rethink his strategy. From a press release sent out by Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago)…
“It was a failure of our political leaders that led us to adjourn without a solution to our problem,” Martwick said. “The problem must be addressed, and it must be done quickly. The issue cannot wait any longer.”
“The growing pension crisis has resulted in a downgrade of our bond rating, already the lowest in the nation. I believe that President Cullerton’s SB 2404 is the best solution to this problem. I urge the leadership to call this bill for a vote in the House. It is a responsible plan that was negotiated in good faith and takes into consideration the fact that the employees are not to blame yet will bear the brunt of the solution.”
Martwick also called on Governor Quinn to finally engage in the process. “Despite his recent statements, Governor Quinn has been completely absent during this process and it’s time for him to get involved. I’m calling on the governor to support President Cullerton’s bill and commit to signing it, as this is the bill that the elected representatives of the people want. If not, he should be prepared to present his own plan, something he has failed to do so far.”
Again, if nobody else stands up, Madigan won’t back down. The unions need to stop messing around with silly Springfield TV ads that nobody is watching and start focusing on using their lobbyists to personally encourage House Democratic members to call their Speaker.
* By the way, click here to read the governor’s special session proclamation. Note that it isn’t necessarily just for one day….
I, Governor Pat Quinn, hereby call and convene the 98th General Assembly in a special session to commence on June 19, 2013, at 1:00 pm, for the purpose of considering any legislation, new or pending, which addresses pension reform.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 10:58 am
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Aren’t these the members who need Madigan’s money in 2014? Put the people’s interest ahead of their own re-election?if only!
Comment by Diogenes in DuPage Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:12 am
===Aren’t these the members who need Madigan’s money in 2014?===
Most of them won’t have opponents.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:15 am
“Most of them won’t have opponents.”
And they’ll want to keep it that way.
Comment by Mouthy Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:17 am
Mouthy, don’t be ridiculous.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:17 am
Good for Martwick. Now if a few more north side, north and northwest suburban Dem Reps who should be feeling some heat decide to join him, we might actually get somewhere. If the unions who agreed to the pension bill start to target some of these reps, maybe they can flip a few more.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:19 am
Rich, then what is their fear or reluctance? Most of them are good, decent public servants.
Comment by Diogenes in DuPage Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:20 am
===Rich, then what is their fear or reluctance?===
House Dems do not like to rock the boat.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:22 am
Employees “bear the brunt?” How about employees bear the entirety. Not seeing anyone else taking a loss.
Comment by anon Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:27 am
Martwick and Rich are dead on. The unions should make it clear to Madigan and every House Dem member…if SB2404 is not called in the House, every member who voted for SB1 will have a union-funded primary opponent. Sure, Madigan will have those member’s back’s and few will lose in March, but they will be in for a miserable winter of walking their districts and getting yelled at by teachers. All will want to avoid that lot…and the threat of it might get them to move Madigan.
Comment by Fred Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:30 am
I’ve written my email of thanks to Rep. Martwick, sent a copy to my own rep, and am hoping the request to call the bill will snowball.
Comment by Retired Rose Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:34 am
I agree with you Rich. If a sufficient number of Democratic Reps can get MJM to reconsider and SB 2404 is passed, then that just means that step 1 of fixing Illinois’s finances is complete. Step 2 is reforming the state income tax. I know of no reason why they can’t reamortize the pension payment which is something they could do at any time. A key component has to be a guarantee that the payment is made every year. Maybe that should be done before the tax reform, which is going to require more heavy lifting.
Comment by Dude Abides Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:43 am
== House Dems do not like to rock the boat. ==
Which maybe is why the bad optics regarding the “disappearance” saga could be significant. It’s a small tear in Madigan’s cloak of invincibility, and something House Dems may not particularly want to be associated with. I’ll admit, this is more wishful thinking on my part than a plausible theory!
Comment by davidh Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:44 am
Well, not complete. There’s the court challenge.
Comment by cassandra Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 11:52 am
I wrote Martwick personally. He’s my rep. I’m going to write him again and thank him for backing a true bi-partisan compromise solution. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy with some aspects of 2404, and I’m certain someone will challenge it in court, but it’s something the courts can at least rule on. They should pass it, and get on with correcting the real problem here, which is a structural deficit that caused them to “borrow” from the pensions in the first place.
Comment by PublicServant Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 12:06 pm
=== Mouthy, don’t be ridiculous. ===
@Mouthy, don’t be so Mouthy.
@Mouthy, stop Mouthing off.
:P
Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 12:46 pm
It looks like there were plenty of House Dems willing to rock the boat when SB1 passed the House in early May. Cassidy, D’Amico, DeLuca, Ford, Hoffman, Lang, Martwick, Mayfield, Phelps, Rita, Sims, Thapedi, Welch, and Williams are all in safe seats and all voted No. (A couple of targets also voted no but that was probably calculated). Seems there could easily be others besides Martwick to send a letter.
Comment by Been There Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 12:56 pm
Ow. Just thinking of the good ole’ Tea Party and how they’ve put fear into establishment republicans used to running unopposed in safe red states and how many of those folks have been beaten.
Comment by Mouthy Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 1:48 pm
As a curious bystander, I am perplexed over how much Mdigan has dug in his heels on this. Does he just have to “win” for winning’s sake, or is he in the pocket of someone more powerful. I can’t quite buy into the notion that anyone in elected government is acting from anything other than blatant self-interest so I am most curious to know the source of the pay-off.
Comment by Skirmisher Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 2:02 pm
–or is he in the pocket of someone more powerful–
Like who?
Comment by L.S. Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 2:06 pm
We have a Gov who can’t govern and a house leader who wants to be a Tsar. The tax payers should not have to bear the burden for our leaders lack of doing their jobs in the regular session. Madigan has pulled this stunt to many times. Do we relly need another as a governor ?.
Comment by EBCDIC Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 3:08 pm
=== Like who? ===
Someone with a mobile phone perhaps?
Or email?
Surely he regards such advanced technology as something to be feared and respected.
Like the pilgrims might regard fire from a zippo lighter.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 3:17 pm
Good for Rep. Martwick–right on! Other Legislators, the Governor, other important Elected Officials from BOTH Parties need to step up the criticism, too, as WELL as the Unions, AND the hearty effort by the Media to pressure him! Because if it doesn’t get WAY hotter in the Madigan Kitchen, he won’t emerge, as his wimpy tactics to dodge, evade, and flee from the Media’s attempts show, just yesterday alone, to question him about altogether irresponsibly blowing off the Governor’s Emergency Meeting to solve the Pension Crisis!! It was a Joke on ABCChicago 7’s Report alone to see MJM act adolescently like that, just truly embarrassing for ALL of Illinois to see OUR OWN Legislature’s Speaker of the House act in such an evasive manner and run away from an ENORmous dilemma of this nature–like something out of the Roadrunner Cartoon or some Laurel and Hardy flick!!!
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 3:54 pm
Let’s not lose sight of the fact tha SB2404 is, from the perspective of the employees and retirees, the least bad of a number of bad choices. Even though agreed to by the union leadership, SB2404 is either unconstitutional (diminishment) or in violation of contract law (no status quo option is offered as one of the choices).
But if they pass it, at least we’ll get the lawsuits started towards the IL Supreme Court.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 4:29 pm