Illinois' state pension overhaul ruled unconstitutional
Source: STL Post-Dispatch
An Illinois judge has struck down a pension law designed to right state's listing fiscal ship, saying leaders can't balance their budgets by cutting benefits to unionized state workers.
"
T)he state of Illinois made a constitutionally protected promise to its employees concerning their pension benefits,” Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz wrote in a ruling released Friday afternoon. “Under established and uncontroverted Illinois law, the State of Illinois cannot break this promise.”
State Attorney General Lisa Madigan immediately announced she would appeal the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court. In a written statement, she said her office will ask the high court to expedite the appeal, “given the significant impact that a final decision in this case will have on the state’s fiscal condition.”
Gov. Pat Quinn and the legislature overhauled Illinois' state employee pension system in 2013, in an effort to address the state's $100 billion pension debt, the worst in the nation. The new law trimmed back retiree benefits and made other changes aimed at cutting costs.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/kevin-mcdermott/illinois-state-pension-overhaul-ruled-unconstitutional/article_2eda6f28-96d8-59a7-8ad2-95729d603b47.html
Chicago Tribune: Landmark state pension law struck down by Springfield judge
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And when a state says to its employees, 'if you stay, we'll give you x towards your pension' and then workers decide - in part on the basis of that promise - to stay and work with the state (working until retirement), it's outrageous to later see the states working hard to dishonor a commitment they are fully capable of meeting.
