Touting a jobs platform, Gov. Pat Quinn pushed modest tax relief, Medicaid and pension reforms, more college grant spending and an end to the state’s natural gas tax in a State of the State speech Wednesday overshadowed by Illinois’ gloomy financial condition.
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State Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Springfield, is calling for the creation of a new constitutional office to get “partisan politics” out of Illinois’ five pension systems. Modeling the new office after that of the auditor general, Brauer said the actuary general would do the calculations involved with figuring out how much the state owes to the pension systems.
For months, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton has maintained that a high-profile measure aimed at getting a handle on the state's vastly underfunded pension system would be declared dead in the courts if it ever passed the General Assembly.
Gov. Pat Quinn set a chain of political finger-pointing in motion Thursday when he announced the closing of seven state facilities and the layoffs of 1,900 employees because of insufficient revenue. Quinn said the General Assembly was to blame for the cuts, while lawmakers blamed Quinn, Republicans blamed Democrats and Democrats blamed the economy.
Illinois taxpayers face at least $85 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. But Gov. Pat Quinn seemed to rule out a pension reform proposal pending in the General Assembly on Wednesday.
