IVCA Provides Updates for State and Federal Legislative Issues - 10.25.17 |
IVCA Provides Updates for State and Federal Legislative Issues UPDATE provided by Stricklin & Associates on October 25, 2017: “There’s so many things that we can’t touch because we’re unreasonably hamstrung,” Rauner said. “And the federal government can say, ‘No, federal restructuring law supersedes the state restrictions, Congress is freeing up states to restructure their pensions as they need to, as they see fit.’” SECTION 5. PENSION AND RETIREMENT RIGHTS
Membership in any pension or retirement system of the
State, any unit of local government or school district, or
any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an
enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which
shall not be diminished or impaired.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-illinois-pension-law-court-ruling-20150508-story.html The Illinois Supreme Court has also ruled against changes to City of Chicago pensions based on similar analysis: (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court dealt another devastating blow Thursday to the state's impatient attempts to control its ballooning public pension debt by striking down a state law that would have cut into an $8 billion hole in two of Chicago's employee pension accounts. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160324/NEWS02/160329904/illinois-supreme-court-strikes-down-fix-for-chicago-pensions The General Assembly has also in recent years engaged with a pension reform model centered around the legal theory of “consideration”, which is embodied in SB 16 and has been championed by Senate President Cullerton, suggesting the “contract” between state employees and the government is something which could be negotiated. The bill narrowly passed the Illinois Senate 31-21 on May 17 of 2017, but has not progressed further. |