Union Letter-Writing, Phone-Calling Credited With Turning the Tables on Illinois Pension Reform
The spin on the Illinois pension reform story is taking all shapes this morning. Yesterday, the state legislature decided to shelve the contentious measure, instead passing a gambling bill allowing slot machines and more casinos, a redistricting package and, importantly, a budget.
The Sun-Times calls the pension reform pass-up a “major win” for unions:
House Speaker Michael Madigan and House Minority Leader Tom Cross abruptly pulled the plug Monday on legislation forcing government workers to pay more for their pensions in a major win for the state’s public-employee unions.
Madigan (D-Chicago) and Cross (R-Oswego) faced an almost unheard-of legislative setback, succumbing to a dizzying letter-writing and phone-calling campaign to rank-and-file lawmakers by more than a half-dozen unions.
After passing out of a House committee last week, Madigan’s and Cross’s legislative package drew support from no more than 45 House members when 60 votes were needed to pass a bill, union sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Thanks to the most potent grassroots lobbying campaign ever waged, we have blocked passage of a measure backed by leaders of both political parties and the biggest corporations in the state of Illinois,”