State Senate Passes Bill To End Legislative Scholarships

A bill to eliminate the controversial legislative scholarship program passed the Illinois Senate and is very close to becoming law.

The Better Government Association’s policy unit has been advocating a complete dismantling of the scholarship program and had strongly recommended President John Cullerton call for a full Senate vote on a bill that will scuttle the troubled and clout-riddled legislative perk.

Forty-three Senators voted to end the program while five voted no and five members voted present.

The Senate sends the measure back to the House, which earlier had approved eliminating the program, to address some changes attached to the Senate bill.

House Speaker Michael J. Madigan has agreed to those changes, so it’s expected the bill will be approved and sent to Gov. Pat Quinn to be signed into law.

This year, Quinn has repeatedly stated that he favors total elimination of the scholarship program, which has been in place for nearly a century, and allows every member of the Illinois General Assembly to give two tuition-free scholarships a year to major state universities to constituents in their district. In total, those scholarships cost taxpayers about $13 million a year.

The BGA and media outlets throughout the state have reported for years that this program is being misused and abused for political, not educational, purposes.

Statewide Update—May 1, 2012

Former Mayor Richard Daley

Chicago Tribune—Pension Games: Chicago aldermen to reap millions from inflated pensions, “When Chicago aldermen floated a proposal in 1987 to boost their city pensions dramatically, Mayor Harold Washington’s administration dismissed it as an arrogant ploy that lacked even a cursory cost analysis. Three years later, the proposal still didn’t have a price tag. But records show that the new mayor, Richard M. Daley, helped push it through the state Legislature anyway. Now a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation reveals how much those lucrative pensions could end up costing taxpayers.”

Chicago Sun-Times—Emanuel: I’ll get to promised ethics fixes, “Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday embraced a proposed overhaul of Chicago’s anemic ethics ordinance, then struggled to explain why he has failed to deliver on a promise to give the city’s corruption-fighting inspector general broader powers and more resources. For all his efforts to draw the curtain on the scandal-scarred years of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration, Emanuel hasn’t given Inspector General Joe Ferguson the authority he’s promised to investigate the City Council, the Chicago Park District or Public Building Commission. Nor has the mayor guaranteed the office one-tenth of one percent of the city’s annual budget. “

Chicago Tribune—Lawmaker pleads not guilty to bribery: ‘I will not cower’, “State Rep. Derrick Smith pleaded not guilty today to federal bribery charges and issued his first public comments after his court appearance. Smith, under pressure to resign his position, accused the FBI of engaging in ‘shenanigans’ during the investigation and said agents pressured people to ‘say bad things about me.’… Smith also suggested he will remain in office while he fights the charges.”

Daily Herald—Preckwinkle: Towns should annex unincorporated Cook County, “A task force empaneled by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is calling for municipalities to annex all unincorporated areas of Cook County to save the county money. Preckwinkle offered no timeline to eliminate the unincorporated areas where roughly 98,000 of the county’s 5.2 million residents live. Nor did she estimate what the county would save by no longer having to provide sheriff’s patrols and other services to those areas.”

Chicago Sun-Times—Former Daley aide Teele now lobbying Chicago tourism agency, “Terry Teele — a trusted adviser to former Mayor Richard M. Daley forced out in a 2000 ethics scandal — has landed a lucrative lobbying contract with the mega-agency charged with promoting Chicago as a site for conventions and tourism.  Don Welsh, CEO of the agency now known as Choose Chicago, was tight-lipped when asked why he chose Teele.”

Chicago Sun-Times—Editorial: Unwise rush to judgment on victims’ rights amendment, “Nothing that goes on in Springfield should surprise us. Yet we confess we’re scratching our heads over the Legislature’s rush to approve a victims’ rights constitutional amendment without first addressing potential pitfalls.”

Statewide update—April 30, 2012

Al Podgorski
/Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times—Task Force: Whistleblowers should get more protection, “Whistleblowers will get more protection and city employees will be required to report corruption under proposed changes to Chicago’s ethics ordinance that will be announced Monday. Those changes are among 34 recommendations by an Ethics Task Force recruited by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to overhaul the city’s ethics ordinance.”

• The Southern—Public larceny can be easy in Illinois, Feds: $30 million milked from one small town, “Ghost employees and phantom vendors aren’t characters in the next big horror movie. Rather, they represent just two of the ways government employees can defraud taxpayers. The recent arrest of a small-town finance official accused of siphoning $30 million over the past few decades highlights just how vulnerable to fraud the approximately 4,900 taxing bodies in Illinois are… Having only one person in charge of finances in small towns and other taxing bodies is a common arrangement, making taxpayer dollars inherently vulnerable to abuse and to theft.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Clout builder settles whistleblower suit for $6.4 million, “Walsh Construction — a behemoth builder of roads, bridges and buildings with long ties to the Daley family — has paid $6.4 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that accused the contractor of overcharging taxpayers on 11 federally subsidized housing projects, records show.”

• State Journal-Register—Legislators take aim at subsidy for retiree health insurance, “Legislation to do away with the health insurance premium subsidy available to state retirees opens a new front in the battle between legislators determined to cut the state’s retirement debt and unions representing state workers… The amendment to Senate Bill 1313 would eliminate subsidies for health insurance for retirees. Instead, the Department of Central Management Services would determine how much the state would contribute to ‘the basic program of group health benefits on behalf of retired employees, annuitants and survivors.”

• Chicago Tribune—City seeks gag order in police neglect case, “In the wake of a damaging appellate court ruling against the Chicago Police Department, lawyers for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration have asked a judge to keep the family of a mentally ill California woman from speaking publicly about the case. The move was prompted by a sharply critical statement Christina Eilman’s family issued after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that their lawsuit could proceed after a two-year delay, a legal opinion that likened police conduct to throwing her in a lion’s den.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—State lawmaker accused of bribery due in court, “A state lawmaker accused of bribery is due in federal court. The arraignment of state Rep. Derrick Smith is scheduled for Monday before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. The Chicago Democrat has been charged with accepting a bribe in exchange for using his influence to obtain a state grant for a daycare center. Smith was arrested March 13, days before Illinois’ primary election where he won the Democratic nomination despite his arrest.”

Statewide update—April 27, 2012

Scott Steward~Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times—Cicero library board members get pricey perk: free health care for life, “Former library board members in Cicero, though, get something worth a whole lot more, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. They get excellent health insurance, currently a BlueCross BlueShield PPO plan. For life. For free. Their spouses and kids, until they turn 19, are covered, too, for free. What if the trustee dies? Not to worry. The family inherits the benefit, according to a legal analysis obtained by the Sun-Times. The former trustees don’t even have to serve their full six-year terms on the library board to get the benefit, once they leave.”

• Chicago Tribune—Court: Parents of disabled woman can sue Chicago police for neglect, “More than two years after getting the case, a federal appeals court today ruled that a mentally ill California woman can sue the Chicago Police Department for releasing her into a violent neighborhood where she was raped and nearly killed… The city’s appeal had asked the court to dismiss the case against 10 police officers accused of negligence, arguing the police had no responsibility to take care of Eilman, a 21-year-old former UCLA student who had been arrested after creating a disturbance at Midway Airport.”

• Chicago Tribune—Tollway: Employee was suspended for misuse of agency vehicle, “An Illinois Tollway employee was suspended for two days and ordered to pay $581 in restitution for using a tollway-owned vehicle for personal business, officials said Thursday. The discipline was disclosed in an internal audit, which concluded that the tollway could improve how it tracks employee vehicle use and recommended steps to better document the practice.”

• Washington Post—Is Rahm’s plan to rebuild Chicago brilliant—or disastrous? “The big question, however, is why Chicago would do things this way. An infrastructure bank, after all, is just another form of borrowing.. But here’s the problem. For this to work reasonably well, a city has to be smart about how it structures its contracts with private investors. Otherwise, there’s a real possibility that Chicago could pay too much for its infrastructure and, essentially, get fleeced by shrewd investors like Citibank and J.P. Morgan.”

• State Journal-Register—Illinois lawmaker asked to limit bribery probe, “Federal prosecutors aren’t making things easy for Illinois lawmakers who are looking into bribery allegations against a House member. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told the legislative panel that he can’t reveal details of the case against Democratic Rep. Derrick Smith of Chicago. He also asked lawmakers not to conduct their own investigation because it might interfere with the criminal case. But Fitzgerald did say he has no objection to lawmakers asking Smith to testify.”

• Daily Herald—Senate approves measure regulating ‘fracking’, “The Illinois Senate unanimously signed off on a measure Thursday that would regulate debated technology used to reach previously inaccessible natural gas reserves deep underground, a method that worries some environmentalists because of possible pollution from mixtures of water, sand and chemicals. The Senate’s 54-0 passage of the bill addressing hydraulic fracturing — commonly called fracking — comes amid reports that energy companies are in a torrid push to explore possible drilling sites in southern Illinois, long known for its rich below-ground coal and oil reserves.”

• The Southern—Senate Oks enterprise zone extensions, “The Illinois Senate unanimously approved legislation Thursday designed to extend a long-running business tax incentive program… The legislation is being pushed because some of the zones are scheduled to expire next year, including Decatur, Rockford and Peoria. With the tax incentives in limbo, city officials say they aren’t able to offer businesses long-term investment packages. Enterprise zones give state and local tax exemptions to businesses locating in the area. One of the more popular incentives provides a sales tax exemption on materials used in construction of business facilities.”

BGA to Chicago City Council: Delay Infrastructure Trust Plan

An open letter to aldermen says the Mayor’s blueprint needs greater scrutiny and more public accountability. It urges the City Council to vote no, or to delay and review, the controversial ordinance.

April 17, 2012

Dear Aldermen:

It is the position of the Better Government Association that the ordinance creating the Infrastructure Trust lacks measures to ensure the transparency, oversight and accountability necessary to protect taxpayers and to properly inform the public about the Trust’s motivations and actions.

The BGA urges you to vote “no” on the ordinance creating the Infrastructure Trust or to defer and publish it, which would postpone its passage long enough to allow further review and possible revisions. Here’s why:

More time is needed to understand the scope and scale of the Infrastructure Trust.

The fast-tracking advocated by the Mayor’s office leaves too little time for Aldermen and public interest groups to fully examine and evaluate the ordinance. The revised ordinance from the Mayor’s office—the one you will be called to vote on tomorrow—has only been public since Friday. An ordinance to create a multi-billion dollar trust with taxpayer money deserves a longer period of time between introduction and passage, and public hearings would help Aldermen and citizens understand the merits and pitfalls of the Mayor’s proposal.

The Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act do not apply to the Infrastructure Trust, a non-profit agency.

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act (OMA) are state statutes that apply only to public bodies. The Illinois Attorney General has jurisdiction over public bodies that fail to comply with the requirements of FOIA and OMA, and a special office (the Public Access Counselor) to assist citizens who are unable to obtain documents via FOIA.

Unlike public bodies, non-profits like the Trust are not subject to Illinois FOIA or OMA. A city ordinance cannot unilaterally extend the authority of the Illinois Attorney General over a non-profit. That means that if the Trust fails to comply with FOIA or OMA, the only recourse is litigation in the courts. Citizens and members of the press submitting FOIA requests to the Trust will not have the protections and assistance offered by the Public Access Counselor, who ensures that public entities comply with FOIA.

The Chicago Inspector General does not have jurisdiction over the Infrastructure Trust.

The Chicago Inspector General does not have jurisdiction over the Trust because the Trust is a separate entity from the city. To the extent that the Trust enters agreements with the City, the IG could potentially examine those specific agreements. However, the IG’s authority does not extend to deals with related agencies, some of which do not have their own Inspector General. As you know, related city agencies include the Chicago Public Schools, the Housing Authority and the Park District, taxpayer-supported agencies that have great impact on residents’ lives.

For these reasons and more we urge you to vote “no” or move to delay a vote. This is not to denigrate the mayor’s plan but to improve it by adding enough transparency, accountability and oversight measures to avoid another fiasco like the privatization of the parking meters. Let’s go slow and get this one right.

If you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to email or call Emily Miller, BGA Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator, at emiller@bettergov.org or 773-203-9654; or Robert Reed, BGA Director of Investigations and Programming, at 312-203-5722 or rreed@bettergov.org.

Thank you.

Andy Shaw
President and CEO

Emily Miller
Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator

Scholarship Scam Might Finally be Killed

Commentary

This Op-Ed also appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times.

BGA’s policy arm is calling for an end to legislative scholarships because we believe they’re beyond repair or reform.

In recent months, the Better Government Association and various media outlets have chronicled the misuse and abuse of Illinois’ long-standing legislative scholarship program, a perk that allows lawmakers to give two college students tuition-free access to a state university each year.

Based on these investigations, the BGA’s policy arm is calling for an end to the scholarships because we believe they’re beyond repair or reform.

Meanwhile, the government watchdog that should be policing the program on behalf of the taxpayers claims he can’t do much because his hands are tied — a claim the BGA finds hard to believe.

On Wednesday, a bill to abolish the scholarship program passed with an overwhelming majority in the House. We urge the Senate to take quick action next, sending the bill to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk to be signed into law.

There is only one rule for handing out these scholarships: the recipients must live in the lawmaker’s district. But history shows that legislators repeatedly violate this obligation without fear of any legal consequences or sanctions from the General Assembly.

The most recent examples: The BGA reported that state Rep. Monique Davis gave scholarships to 10 recipients who live outside her district, and a Chicago Sun-Times report indicates that state Sen. Annazette Collins did the same thing for 10 geographically challenged students.

When it’s alleged that lawmakers fail to observe the law, it stands to reason that some sort of formal investigation should seek to determine guilt or innocence, and have the power to impose a sanction or consequence.

But for years, nothing has been done.

In fact, Thomas J. Homer, the Illinois Legislative Inspector General — the entity with the jurisdiction to investigate any alleged wrongdoing by members of the General Assembly — confirms that his office did not conduct a single investigation related to legislative scholarships until last fall.

Homer points to several factors that crimp his ability to investigate lawmakers, including a statute of limitations that prevents him from looking into allegations of wrongdoing that occurred more than a year before the complaint is filed, unless there’s a cover-up involved. And before 2010, Homer’s office was prohibited from initiating its own investigations and had to rely on complaints from third parties.

Efforts of the Legislative Inspector General to pursue violations of the law have proven to be woefully inadequate — or nonexistent — despite the firestorm of controversy surrounding it. Since 2010, there have been at least seven reports of legislative scholarship abuse, and not a single investigation with a suggested remedial action has come out of the Office of the Legislative Inspector General.

In principle, those who misused the program and ignored the law should be disciplined. Moreover, if this program had been more closely guarded, it arguably could have been a success instead of a glaring example of abuse of power.

But it’s too late for that type of thinking.

Gov. Quinn, who supports eliminating the scholarship program, recently called on the “Legislature and its leadership to move forward” and “put a bill on [his] desk.”

He even coined a phrase: “Don’t mend it. End it.”

It’s time to put that sentiment into action and scuttle this program.

Emily Miller is the BGA’s policy and government relations coordinator. She can be reached at (312) 821-9034 or at emiller@bettergov.org.

BGA Statement on the Illinois House Passage of a Bill to End Legislative Scholarships

By Emily Miller
Emily is the BGA’s Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator. Contact her at emiller@bettergov.org. Follow her on Twitter @EJMill.

The Illinois House today passed HB3810, which calls for the elimination of the decades-old legislative scholarship program. The BGA has been at the forefront of a movement to end a program, that’s been the topic of BGA investigations and other media reports documenting how lawmakers have used the scholarships to pay back cronies, political backers and supporters.

“This is an important first step in ending this long-abused and misused program,” said Andy Shaw, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Better Government Association. “Now it is up to the Illinois Senate, and Senate President John Cullerton, to have a floor vote, which we believe will mirror the House vote and send the bill to the governor’s desk for his promised signature.

“Scholarships should not be doled out by legislators, nor should they be used as a way to pay back cronies, political supporters or friends. Scholarships should be granted by state universities that have the expertise to accomplish this important task, not politicians.”

Statewide Update—Feb. 17, 2012

Northwest Herald—Editorial: Our taxes hard at work, “[McHenry] County is spending taxpayer dollars for membership in Metro Counties of Illinois, a lobbying group working in Springfield to add more exceptions to the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, a measure supported by the Metro Counties is House Bill 3137, which would exempt drafts of speeches and presentations, government job applications, recommendations and opinions on applicants for government jobs, among other information.”

• Huffington Post— Illinois House Agriculture Committee To Hear Abortion Bill In Strategic Move From Pro-Life Reps, “A bill that would impose stricter operation standards on health care centers that perform abortions is being pushed through the Illinois House Agriculture Committee this month, in a strategic move that the state has seen before… Last year, the Better Government Association reported that seven bills had been sent through the Agriculture Committee that had nothing to do with farming or the environment, most of which dealt with controversial issues including gambling, abortion and even the state’s hotly-debated concealed carry measure.”

• Chicago Tribune—Leading aldermen in no rush on City Council protester crackdown, “The same aldermen who proposed new rules to limit crowd participation at City Council meetings said today they’re in no hurry to see the rules enacted.”

• (AP) State Journal-Register—Quinn’s budget plan to include more state facility closures, “Gov. Pat Quinn says he’ll propose closing ‘quite a few’ state facilities in his budget address next week. The Democrat told The Associated Press Thursday that the closures are necessary for a better budget. He declined to give any specifics on the closures, saying details would come during his budget address Wednesday.”

• Chicago Sun-Times—Blagojevich to serve sentence at Denver-area prison, “Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich will serve his prison sentence for corruption at a low-security federal prison for male prisoners near Denver, as he had requested and a judge had recommended, sources said.”

• Daily Herald—OTB plans on track in Hoffman Estates, “After years of talks, an off-track betting facility may finally land in Hoffman Estates by the fall…[Senior village planner Jim Donahue] said the village and Cook County will each receive 1 percent of the ‘handle,’ or dollars wagered at the facility. He said the owner expects to bring in about $14 million in handle per year once the facility is operational, generating $140,000 annually for both the village and county.”

• SouthtownStar—Rahm Emanuel finds ally in new fire chief Jose Santiago, “Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday appointed 33-year veteran Chicago firefighter Jose Santiago as Chicago’s new fire commissioner — and found an ally in his plan to wring millions of dollars in savings out of the city’s second-largest department.”

• Bloomington Pantagraph—Little room left to waste: County urges restraint as landfill approaches limit, “Bloomington, Normal, McLean County and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency all would play roles in the approval process [to expand the current site.] Several years ago, the IEPA set state recycling goals in an effort to reduce the amount of solid waste going to landfills. The Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act required larger municipalities to create solid waste management plans that include recycling.”

Voters’ Guide — 2012 Primary Elections

Something to look forward to (Photo courtesy sleepyneko/Flickr)

This March voters will gather to narrow the playing field of candidates in preparation for the November 2012 general election, which includes the much-anticipated presidential election. For answers to all of your March primary questions, check out our voters’ guide.

When are the general primary elections?
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

What offices are on the ballot for this election?
The March 20th primary elections narrow the field of party candidates for the general election in November 2012 for the following elected offices:

• President of the United States
• U.S. Congressional Representatives
• Delegates to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions
• All State Senators and State Representatives
• Judicial seats at the Supreme, Appellate, Cook Circuit/Subcircuit and Downstate Circuit/Subcircuit levels

For a full listing of candidates, click here.

Am I registered to vote?
Click here to find out if you are registered to vote. Just enter your name and zip code. If you are registered, this link will also show you your polling place.

If I’m not registered, is it too late to register to vote?
February 21st, 2012 is the last day you can register to vote. To register to vote you must be:

• 18 years old on or before March 20th
• a U.S. citizen
• a resident of Illinois

To get a copy of the form you’ll need to fill out and for other registration information, click here (PDF)

Where is my polling place?
For voting locations, enter your name and zip code here

What time are the polls open?
The polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

Can I vote early?
You can vote early and avoid election-day-rush at designated voting locations starting Monday, February 27, 2012 through Thursday, March 15th, 2012.

Where do I vote early?

• If you live in Chicago, click here to find early voting locations
• For all other areas, click here to find early voting locations in your home jurisdiction*

Do I need to bring an ID with me when I go to vote?
If you are voting early, you must present a government-issued photo ID (IL driver’s license, passport, etc.) at the time you cast your vote.

Who should I vote for?
The BGA is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse any candidates. See below for a list of candidate guides from around the state:

• For election info in Cook and portions of the surrounding counties, check out the Chicago Tribune Editorial board questionnaires & endorsements
• For DeWitt, Ford, LaSalle, Livingston, Logan, Tazewell and Woodford counties, you can find a list of nominating petitions filed for the March election here
• All other counties, visit you county website or contact your local election authority here

How does redistricting impact my vote and the voting process?
Redistricting does not impact the number of election seats you’ll need to vote for, but it could impact the candidates you have the option to vote for this time around. To see how redistricting may have changed the district you are eligible to vote in, take a look at this interactive redistricted boundaries map

What happens after this primary election?
Candidates who receive the most votes within their political party during this primary election will go on to continue campaigning until the November 2012 general election.

As Time and Cash Run Out, Pols Must Launch Pension Rescue

By Robert Reed
This Think Tank post was also published as an OpEd on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 in the Chicago Sun-Times. Robert is the BGA’s director of programming and investigations. Contact him at rreed@bettergov.org. Follow him on Twitter @RReedBGA.

Long after the state’s public pension alarm began to blare, Illinois’ leadership is finally roused and ready to answer the call.

Maybe.

This year, we’ll see how determined our leaders are as they launch various efforts to comprehensively fix a benefit system that’s teetering on financial ruin and may ultimately plummet the state government into insolvency.

The Better Government Association welcomes the reform effort and is also encouraged by recent crackdowns on individual pension abuses that have been uncovered in exposes by the BGA and media outlets. But this problem goes beyond such isolated repairs and it’s high time our leaders toughen up and hammer out systemic remedies.

Democratic and Republican powerhouses are ramping up for this legislative session:

• Having avoided aggressive pension reform for most of his tenure, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn says he’s raring to go. Recently, Quinn forged a bi-partisan working group of lawmakers and others to embark on a comprehensive examination of the state pension crisis. Quinn’s goal: Prescribe remedies that the governor says can be accomplished in a “fair and constitutional manner.”’
• Meanwhile, the powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael J. Madigan is interested in the way state pensions invest retirees’ money. He’s convened a special House committee to examine the major funds’ financial strategies. Madigan’s goal: Determine how decisions are being made and how much risk these portfolios carry, especially in today’s choppy economic seas.
• Across the aisle, Republican House Minority Leader Tom Cross (who is chairing the special House panel on investments) is also again gearing up proposed legislation that would alter benefit structure for current state workers. Cross’ goal: Pass a law that protects worker benefits already accrued but reduce them going forward either by having employees pay more into a defined plan like a pension or opt for a defined contribution plan, such as a 401 (k).

It’s encouraging to see state chieftains address the larger pension issues and take a wider view.

That direction is a welcome departure from the recent past when the crisis has been ignored or when lawmakers settle for passing important but incremental reforms, usually after the BGA and media reports uncover embarrassing abuses of the current system that make taxpayers’ blood boil.

For example, lawmakers last session outlawed the egregious practice that allowed two education lobbyists, who were each substitute teachers for merely one day, to become eligible for hefty public pension payouts.

While such repairs provide momentary relief, they are not the real answer to this systemic quandary. We need solutions that match the size and scope of this enormous crisis.

Obviously, it’s a huge challenge and the BGA doesn’t profess to have all the answers.

But here are some issues the BGA would like to see addressed in the upcoming session: Suspending or limiting cost of living adjustments; capping the amount of money a retiree receives (as is done in the private sector) no matter how many public pension plans they have been in; prohibiting “back-loading” or “spiking” by ending the suspicious practice of state employees getting last-minute promotions or salary increases which translate into heftier pension payouts; and consider phasing out defined pensions for defined contribution plans, like a 401 (k).

The BGA knows there are stormy debates ahead especially whether any changes to the state pension rules for current workers is legal under the Illinois Constitution.

Moreover, organized labor can rightly argue that the state caused this massive shortfall by not keeping its word and properly funding its pension plans.

Yet despite the fiscal complexity and political reality that dogs this controversial issue, we are on the verge of disaster.

It’s time to stop stalling. The alarm bell is clanging and our state leaders must confront this emergency before it’s too late.