Latest attempt to cut state pensions is no guaranteed fix [View all]

Backers of the latest drive to slash Illinois public pension benefits may want to take note of the fate of a similar effort in San Diego, which won strong voter approval years ago but was nonetheless blocked in the courts and now will not go into effect.

The recent collapse of the 2012 San Diego pension fix is a cautionary tale for Illinois because the fatal flaw cited by California courts — with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to get involved — was the failure of city officials to negotiate with employee unions before putting the proposal to voters.

The growing call in Illinois, from the Civic Federation fiscal watchdog, conservative think tanks and newspaper editorial pages, is to ask voters next year to do away with strong protections for promised pension benefits contained in the state constitution adopted in 1970.

The idea seems simple enough. The 1970 charter has a pension clause that makes it all but impossible to reduce the mounting cost of retiree benefits. So, if those protections are undone, the reasoning goes, lawmakers will be freed to reduce pension costs now consuming close to 25 percent of the state’s general funds spending.

Read more: https://www.sj-r.com/news/20190626/latest-attempt-to-cut-state-pensions-is-no-guaranteed-fix
(Springfield State Journal Register)