Pension Reform Conference Committee on July 8, 2013

Members of the the Pension Reform Conference Committee met for the third time yesterday to discuss options for comprehensive pension reform.

Today was the date established by the Governor to take action on pension reform. At yesterday's meeting, the Conference Committee overwhelmingly agreed that the July 9th date set by Governor was an unrealistic deadline without knowing what the Governor will accept as reform.

Testifying at the hearing were: Rep. Mike Fortner on his legislation HB 2365, Dave Urbanek on behalf of the Teachers’ Retirement System, Tim Blair on behalf of the State Retirement Systems, Jerry Stermer from the Governor’s Office, and Rich Whitney and Professor William Barclay on behalf of HB 1554 and SB 7.

At this time the Conference Committee has not set a date for the next meeting and will stand adjourned until the call of the chair.

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There was standing room only as Illinois’ pension conference committee met for the first time Thursday in Chicago. The bipartisan 10-member committee comprised of State Senators and State Representatives has been tasked with producing a compromised bill that enacts meaningful reform to the worst funded pension system in the nation. The committee heard testimony from state agencies, the business community, advocacy groups and unions who pleaded their cases and offered their positions and priorities to be read into the record.

Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) tapped state Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) and state Rep. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) to serve on the pension conference committee to represent the Illinois House Republicans because of their expertise on this pressing issue. On the pension reform discussion table are topics that need to be considered that will have an impact to our state’s finances, the economy, taxes, spending and the budget. State Rep. Senger cited a

Standing room only for Day 1of
Pension Reform Conference
Committee Meeting 

representative’s remark from the Fitch credit rating agency, that Illinois currently has what is equivalent to a junk bond rating for a corporation because we have failed to enact meaningful pension reform.

Despite recent reports that the conference committee would clear the slate of previous pension proposals, most of the testimony offered yesterday was geared around components of Senate Bill 1 and the union-backed Senate Bill 2404. Senate Bill 1 has passed the House and Senate Bill 2404 has passed the Senate, but neither bill has advanced in the other chamber. It was established yesterday that Senate Bill 1 goes further in savings than Senate Bill 2404.

Governor Quinn has tasked the pension conference committee to produce a compromised piece of pension reform legislation by July 9 when session reconvenes. It remains unclear if that will happen.

The pension conference committee will reconvene in Chicago on July 3rd at 9am.

In June of this year, for the first time since December 2005, the Illinois General Assembly appointed a conference committee. The subject for this one is SB1: Pension reform legislation. That committee will meet in Chicago at 11 AM on Thursday, June 27 in room C600 of the Bilandic Building to start the steps necessary to reach consensus on pension reform. Additional meetings will likely be necessary. If agreement can be found, the conference committee will report its recommendations to the General Assembly, perhaps as early as July 8. The final step will be a vote by the entire legislative body.

The General Assembly has long been able under House and Senate Rules to appoint conference committees to resolve differences between versions of specific legislation that had passed out of the respective chambers.

Budget/Pensions

General Assembly holds special session on pension issues; appoints conference committee.  The rarely-used conference committee section of House and Senate rules enables both chambers, in the event of an otherwise insoluble impasse, to appoint ten members (six members of the majority party and four members of the minority party) to discuss how to break the deadlock.  SB 1 (Cullerton/Madigan) has been approved by both houses of the General Assembly with different answers to the State’s pension crisis.  The Senate has repeatedly turned down the House’s language, and the Senate language is characterized by many parties as not adequate to solve the crisis and has not been called in the House for a vote.  

The SB 1 Conference Committee will attempt to resolve the issue in a way that will allow the Governor to call the General Assembly back into special session with language in front of them that can gain the approval of both chambers.  The Governor has asked for new language to be prepared no later than July 9.

The pension reform impasse brought on by Democrat leaders in Springfield is costing Illinois taxpayers $17 million for each and every day a solution is not found. It is threatening the financial future of the state including the ability to provide resources to the elderly, veterans, children and our most vulnerable populations. What’s more, without reform there will not be funds available to ensure the state’s current and future retirees will have a pension at all.