Frustrated lawmakers pitch pension fix

SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Rank-and-file lawmakers frustrated by slow progress and finger-pointing offered their own solution to Illinois' multibillion-dollar pension crisis Wednesday, saying legislators need to take a new approach before the state is sent into "financial oblivion."

But legislative leaders questioned whether the idea is constitutional or saves the necessary billions of dollars, which might put lawmakers right back where they started with just weeks to go in the legislative session.

More than 20 House members — including a handful of Republicans — joined Rep. Elaine Nekritz, chairwoman of the House pension committee, in a debut of the proposal designed to put a jolt into stalled talks on the final day of the fall veto session.

Story Archived

Only the most recent 7 days of articles are available for free. For articles older than 7 days there is a small fee for retrieval from our archive. If you are a registered member of the site, the content is free just by signing in below.

Please sign in with your Comment Member ID and password.

Did you purchase access?

Member ID:
Password:
Forgot Your Password?
Register to comment.

Purchase Access
To allow for flexibility, we offer a variety of options for purchasing articles:
Purchase options


Having trouble?

If you have any technical difficulties, either with your username and password or with the payment options, please contact us by e-mail at archivedesk@shawmedia.com

Blogs

» Business Bits
Business Bits

Sauk Valley Bank opens new branch

STERLING – Sauk Valley Bank newest branch is open at 3319 E. Lincolnway.
» Reciprocity
Reciprocity

Drill

It was easy to get distracted by the performance of it all. The active shooter drill held by Sterling and County Police last week at the high school. The scenario; two armed shooters in the school killing students and teachers and the police and medical technician's response. It's an unfortunate drill, but a necessary one. In the hallways a Halloween mentality took over, especially when the ketchup-blood concoction was applied on the students. Small talk and "what I'm going to do" plans were passed around freely between laughs and odors of the sickly sweet blood stand-in. It was an odd contrast between real and imaginary, one I'm sure psychologists will explain to be a type of coping mechanism. I took these "portraits" of the injured and de

Reader Poll

The federal government announced that it monitors the telephone records of millions of Americans as it tries to detect terrorist plots. Do you support this program?

Yes
No