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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Quinn faces union backlash over Chicago Park District pension bill - See more at: http://www.rebootillinois.com/?opinion=8041&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=reboot-opinion-pensions-11/12/2013&utm_campaign=quinn-faces-union-backlash-over-chicago-park-district-pension-bill-11/12/2013#sthash.d0KXAgzD.dpuf

This shows how the Super majority Liberal controlled house is unable to do anything thats right for the People of Illinois! They don't want to Piss off the Unions! Its all about the elections. They pass other non Important Economy Critical Crap, and leave pension reform go as the state gets deeper in debt!

Last week I wrote that a pension reform bill sent to Gov. Pat Quinn was a harbinger of hope for bigger things to come.
But even for Quinn, who has been urging lawmakers to send him a pension bill to sign for just shy of five years now, the Chicago Park District pension reform bill passed last week arrives loaded with complications.
Not in the bill itself, which is very limited because it applies only to the 6,100 employees and retirees of the Chicago Park District and contains the kind of garden variety pension reforms Quinn has sought on a grander scale for the state’s five pension systems. Rather, it’s in the politics of the bill. Specifically, the union politics.
 The problem is that the Service Employees International Union doesn't like the bill. At all. And with Mr. Quinn, SEIU has all kinds of bona fides, having donated at least $2.5 million to his campaign four years ago, when he was fighting for his political life.
Specifically, the park district's largest union, SEIU Local 73, wants him to veto the bill, saying it unconstitutionally deprives retirees of benefits, and that the measure was changed over the union's objections.
The Illinois Policy Institute has more on the bill here.
There’s no word yet from Quinn whether he’ll sign this bill. Strategically, Quinn might be reluctant to embrace this small-scale bill for fear of derailing work on the much bigger bill that the General Assembly’s special pension conference committee has been working on since June.
Signing last week’s bill into law will trigger a court challenge that awaits any pension bill. If a test case already is in the courts, pressure will be off the legislature to pass another bill until a court decision is in hand.
Then again, if the prospect of a revolt by one supportive union makes Quinn nervous, how will he sign a statewide reform bill that will incur the ire of every public employee union in the state?
With the pension committee’s bill now being reviewed by actuaries and with credible talk of a vote soon – perhaps even before the end of the year  but more likely after the spring legislative session starts in January – there’s no need for Quinn to rush his signature onto the CPD bill.
Unless, of course, he wants to demonstrate his oft-stated desire to sign a bill and get the legal process started.
- See more at: http://www.rebootillinois.com/?opinion=8041&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=reboot-opinion-pensions-11/12/2013&utm_campaign=quinn-faces-union-backlash-over-chicago-park-district-pension-bill-11/12/2013#sthash.d0KXAgzD.dpuf

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