Quinn: No New Casinos Without Pension Reform
From the Chicago Tribune
Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday put a finer point on a notion he's been pushing this spring: no gambling expansion will happen without comprehensive changes to fix a greatly underfunded government worker pension system.
The Democratic governor also insisted that the votes are there to pass a gay marriage bill in the House, expressed concerns about the finances of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan for an arena at McCormick Place and opened the door to a future discussion of the controversial topic of taxing retirement income as part of a major state tax overhaul.
The myriad topics were addressed during Quinn appearances at the City Club of Chicago and the Tribune editorial board with less than two weeks left in the spring session. The governor is dealing with a legislature that in the past has found him to be of questionable relevance in deciding what gets voted on, and against that backdrop Quinn sought to tack carefully away from stirring controversy with the House and Senate's Democratic leaders.
On pension reform, there are dueling House and Senate versions of plans to alter current and future state public employee pensions. Quinn said a measure backed by Senate President John Cullerton "needs improvement," is "short of what's needed" and is "incomplete."
The governor, however, refused to say whether he would veto Cullerton's plan, a measure agreed upon by public employee unions but that would save only about one-third of the $150 billion over 30 years promised in a House-backed measure sponsored by Speaker Michael Madigan. Illinois' state pension systems have an unfunded liability approaching $100 billion.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday put a finer point on a notion he's been pushing this spring: no gambling expansion will happen without comprehensive changes to fix a greatly underfunded government worker pension system.
The Democratic governor also insisted that the votes are there to pass a gay marriage bill in the House, expressed concerns about the finances of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan for an arena at McCormick Place and opened the door to a future discussion of the controversial topic of taxing retirement income as part of a major state tax overhaul.
The myriad topics were addressed during Quinn appearances at the City Club of Chicago and the Tribune editorial board with less than two weeks left in the spring session. The governor is dealing with a legislature that in the past has found him to be of questionable relevance in deciding what gets voted on, and against that backdrop Quinn sought to tack carefully away from stirring controversy with the House and Senate's Democratic leaders.
On pension reform, there are dueling House and Senate versions of plans to alter current and future state public employee pensions. Quinn said a measure backed by Senate President John Cullerton "needs improvement," is "short of what's needed" and is "incomplete."
The governor, however, refused to say whether he would veto Cullerton's plan, a measure agreed upon by public employee unions but that would save only about one-third of the $150 billion over 30 years promised in a House-backed measure sponsored by Speaker Michael Madigan. Illinois' state pension systems have an unfunded liability approaching $100 billion.
Read more in our daily News Update...