Retired teacher Glen Brown writes that there will be a legislative forum of the West Lake Shore Unit of the IRTA (Illinois Retire Teacher Association).
March 28 at 10:00 a.m., WLSU will be holding a legislative forum. Three legislators have agreed to attend—Kimberly Lightford, Ron Sandack, and Jim Durkin. The moderator will be Andrew Bodewes, the part-time contractual lobbyist for IRTA and the lobbyist for TRS. It is important that we present a strong and united front even though these three legislators may not be yours. They will take back to Springfield an impression of our concern with regard to the loss of our pensions. If we do not have a healthy turnout, they may assume that we have rolled over and accepted the loss of what we have earned. Come early to write your question on 3 x 5 cards that will be provided. Try to make your question personal—indicating what the loss of your pension will mean to you. We want them to see us as civil, reasonable individuals not as an angry mob. Be there and make your voice heard.
Plymouth Place, 315 North Lagrange Road, Lagrange, Illinois 60526
Glen’s Twenty Questions for legislators:
1) We have all heard about the cry for “Shared Sacrifice”; however, have legislators voted to sacrifice their salaries and pensions for the public good?
2) Have corporations also been asked to contribute some of their profits for the public good?
3) Are the banks that have received our bailout money and that pay bonuses to their CEOs also making contributions for the public good?
4) When the private sectors were financially stable and booming with profits, did public employees ask the employees of these private sectors to “come in line with them” and make a contribution for the public good?
Now, here are a few simple yes-and-no questions that I want you to answer:
1) Aren’t retirement systems a small portion of State and local government budgets? (Isn’t it about three percent?)
2) And doesn’t the money paid to retirees come out of pension trust fund assets and not out of the general operating revenues?
3) Aren’t the public employees an important source of economic stimulus to communities across the State because of these benefit distributions?
4) Do you believe teachers and other public employees are the blame for the financial mess that the private sector and some legislators have created?
5) Have you read the November 2009 (177-page) House Joint Resolution 65?
I have several complex questions that I would like you to answer:
1) So what do you think the State should do about this crisis?
2) Do you think there should be Taxation of Retirement Income and a change in other benefits?
3) What are your remedies for the contribution shortfalls?
4) Do you believe that the current pensions are less expensive than the private sector? Why or why not?
5) Teachers do not and cannot receive Social Security. Consider Social Security and its costs for Illinois taxpayers: is a State-Funded pension more expensive for Illinois taxpayers to afford than Social Security?
6) Do you believe that the current benefit structure is the primary contributor to the current pension crisis, or is the main culprit the State’s inability to fund its pension systems according to actuarial principals? Explain.
7) Did you vote for the Creation of a Second Tier of Pension Benefits for New Teachers hired after January 2011? Why?
Do you believe that the TRS pension is at fault for the State’s financial mess?
1) Have you read Eric Madiar’s 76-page analysis and rebuttal to Sidley Austin and the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago regarding the constitutional guarantee of the TRS pension?
2) Do you agree with Madiar’s argument and research?
3) Are you going to protect our pensions and benefits using his substantiation of proof? If no, why?
Fred Klonsky 