News » Top Stories

Voters to decide on Illinois pension reform bill

By Maggie Vespa
May 4, 2012 Updated May 4, 2012 at 10:18 PM CDT

It is now up to you.

Illinois lawmakers tonight are trumpeting a proposed constitutional amendment, that would make it more difficult for governing bodies to increase, or 'sweeten', public pensions.

But just how much more difficult would it really be, and what does this mean for Illinois voters?

"What it will do is require that any future pension benefits would have to pass the legislature by a three fifths majority in the house and in the Senate," said State Senator Darin LaHood (R-37th district).

That is the gist of a new measure overwhelmingly passed by the Illinois Senate Thursday and by the House before that.

The constitutional amendment would require that 60% vote, or a 'super majority', in order to sweeten pensions for state employees.

That's opposed to the current requirement of just 51%.

Longtime State Senator Dave Koehler says, it's the type of regulation the state's pension system has needed for years.

"Along the way, there were certain sweeteners that occurred, when special interest groups would come and say 'well, we just want a little bit of this, and we want a little bit of that.' And over the years what you have is, you have a pension system that gets totally out of hand," said Koehler, (D-46th district).

But doing the math, is a 9% increase in the amount of votes needed enough?

Both LaHood and Koehler agree, the step is a small one, and hopefully the first of many.

And while the increase also applies to local governing bodies, those in Central Illinois say it won't have much of an effect.

"Peoria County board is not responsible for the local pension set-up. That is a state function. So I find it a bit unusual that they would take that tactic," said Peoria County Administrator Lori Curtis Luther.

So in the midst of all the numbers and technicalities, here's the pitch the public-- you get the chance to help reform the pension system, by heading to the polling place this November.

"I think letting the taxpayers of Illinois, the citizens of Illinois, the voters decide things like this is good public policy," said LaHood.

Something lawmakers, admittedly, hope helps quell frustration among voters in Illinois, as they work to fix the pension system in Springfield.

To submit a comment on this article, your email address is required. We respect your privacy and your email will not be visible to others nor will it be added to any email lists.