A group of teachers and public school officials filed a class-action lawsuit Friday in state court seeking to void Illinois' new pension reform law on grounds the cuts to pension benefits violate the state constitution.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, claims that changes to current and retired teacher pensions passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this month violate a clause in the Illinois Constitution which says pension benefits can't be cut.
"That guarantee, perhaps more so than anything else in the Illinois Constitution, was used by countless families across Illinois to plan careers, retirements and financial futures," the 12-page lawsuit reads. "Many of them know that constitutional guarantee by heart."
It also asks the court to void the law, which is scheduled to take effect June 1.
With Illinois' finances buckling under a $100 billion unfunded pension liability, the controversial measure reduces and suspends cost-of-living increases for pensions, raises retirement ages and limits the salaries on which pensions are based.
A similar measure in California was found invalid on Dec. 23 when a state court judge barred the city of San Jose from imposing voter-approved pension cuts on current municipal workers. This set an important precedent as public employee unions and many U.S. cities lock horns over retirement
