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Thursday, February 28, 2013

UPDATE: If they get a pension bill, will the courts find it legal. Not for current retirees. | Fred Klonsky

If they get a pension bill, will the courts find it legal. Not for current retirees. | Fred Klonsky:


For a graduated tax and for a pension killer too. That won’t work.

Is it that I’m never satisfied.
Or is it that my mother didn’t raise a fool?
At a recent pension town hall in Wilmette I challenged Senator Dan Biss to sign on as co- sponsor of HJRCA2. The bill would place a constitutional amendment on the 2014 ballot creating a progressive income tax.
Representative Robyn Gabel was challenged to do the same thing.
They said they would. And they have.
So why isn’t this good enough?
Both Senator Biss and Representative Gabel are also sponsors of bills that cut constitutionally guaranteed


If they get a pension bill, will the courts find it legal. Not for current retirees.

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The Supremes.
I just came back from the luncheon of the North Lake Shore Illinois Retired Teachers Association up in Des Plaines.
I sat at the table with Bob Lyons, one of the trustees of the Teacher Retirement System.
Lyons was the featured speaker.
The tone of his speech was generally optimistic. At least for those currently retired teachers. And that was who was in the room.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t have work to do,” Lyons warned.
But he was hesitant to guess what the legislature might do. And in Illinois, that is a sound approach.
He handed out the latest memorandum from the


What is Madigan up to? Discuss.


02-michael-madiganWhen I asked somebody with more experience in the weird inner workings of Springfield about today’s four votes on pension bills, his answer was, “I guess we’ll see.”
Illinois Democratic Party Boss Michael Madigan threw everything at the wall today to see what would stick.
Nothing did.
A House bill that would raise the retirement age of public employees to 67 got one vote. The Speaker’s.
A House bill that would raise employee contributions to 5% got 3 votes. Nekritz, Jefferson and The Speaker.
A House bill that would eliminate all COLAs got five votes. Hurley, Jefferson, Nekritz, Zalewski and The Speaker.
Most Republicans did not vote.
What is Madigan up to?
What do you think?
Discuss.


IEA Retired members. Look for your NEA RA ballot around March 22nd.

I’m on the ballot for delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly in Atlanta this summer.
They go out in the mail around March 22nd and must be received in Springfield by April 24th.
Feel free to let your IEA Retired friends know. I’ll remind you again.
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