State Representative Elaine Nekritz. A Bizarro World Democrat.
Only in Illinois, the Bizarro World of Democratic Party politics, would a Democratic State Representative sit next to a teacher union activist and proclaim proudly that state unions detest her.
Yet that is exactly what Representative Elaine Nekritz did at an Illinois Retired Teacher Association luncheon a few months ago. I was that union activist.
When I warned Nekritz of the threat to the traditional alliance of Democrats and unions that the pension issue represented, she smiled and said, “Ask AFSCME. They already hate me.”
So it was no surprise to me that Nekritz and her north shore ally, Democratic Senator Dan Biss, would hold a presser today to announce the latest version of Squeezy the Pension Killing Cobra.
State employees, teachers, university employees and legislators would pay more for their pensions, receive reduced cost-of-living increases in retirement and retire later under a plan to be introduced Wednesday by a group of House Democrats.
The reduced COLAs also would apply to already retired state employees.
Need another reason to get on a bus to Springfield on January 3rd?
Nekritz and Biss claim that in exchange, the bill would provide for a structured way of meeting the state’s future pension obligations, including a gradual cost shift to local governments.
What isn’t addressed is how the state will pay the $100 million dollars it presently owes to the public pension systems, although Nekritz and Biss claim the pension systems would be fully funded in 30 years as a result of their plan.
Even the State Journal Register could barely contain its skepticism at the promise to pay future obligations.
Details of how the bill would guarantee the state pays its share were unclear Tuesday. Nekritz declined comment on the proposal, which she is set to detail at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Even so, the idea that a fair resolution of the pension issue is for public employees to have benefits cuts in exchange for the state doing what it is obligated to do already is another feature of living in Bizarro World. Head they win, tails we lose.
Whatever Nekritz and Biss are selling, so far the IEA leadership isn’t buying. Although even they admit they have not exactly been consulted.
The Illinois Education Association questioned whether changing pension benefits for current retirees is legal.
“It would be interesting to know how that could be constitutional, to say the least,” said IEA spokesman Charles McBarron.
The IEA has not been involved in pension discussions, McBarron said.
“We are anxious and interested in providing some input and ideas with regard to the pensions, but nobody seems to be very interested in hearing them right now,” he said. “We’ve been shut out.”
It is also unclear whether Nekritz, Biss and the other backers of this pension killer are acting on their own or with the blessing of Speaker Madigan and Senate President Cullerton.
The state senate remains somewhat of a problem for any bill that attempts to violate the constitution by diminishing or impairing pension benefits.
Jim Broadway points out:
While House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton seem to agree on the need for pension reform, their views differ in what reform provisions would be constitutional – and several parts of the Nekritz proposal seem to strain constitutional limits.
For example, Cullerton’s view is that pension benefits may be reduced only if a pension member accepts a reduction as a condition of receiving a benefit that is not constitutionally protected, such as subsidized health insurance. The Nekritz plan seems devoid of such options.
What are the chances this plan will be enacted? If one of the legislators at today’s news conference is named Madigan and another is named Cullerton, the proposal has a chance. If not, this would seem to be an effort on the part of the participating legislators to nudge the process along and, in that case, many of the details are of little meaning.
Clearly, Madigan and Cullerton do want to enact some kind of pension “reform,” and would like to do it before the new General Assembly forms. Gov. Pat Quinn has expressed a desire for reform to include higher payments, restraints on benefits, an older retirement age and the shift of obligations from the state to the school districts.
But until all three sign off, the Nekritz proposal is just a news conference.
No one can feel safe until the January 3rd week-long final meeting of the General Assembly is over. This probably will not be the last bill thrown out for consideration or the last press conference called.
A big turnout by state union members and their supporters in Springfield January 3rd and 4th will go a long way to beating back these pension killing attempts here in Bizarro World.
And then it starts again.
Fred Klonsky 
When this gets litigated..now that Rahm has a freind judge in I’ll. Supreme court
Nekritz is Madigan’s stooge. She doens’t do anything without his blessing. Madigan pulls all the strings and stays in the backgrounds. As a retired teacher, I’m scared that I now have to depend on Republicans to save my COLA. Some questions: Why weren’t the unions in on negotiations? Why is the anti-teacher Civic Federation included. The Civic Federation is a right-wing group that is portrayed by the Chicago Tribune as a “public interest” organization.
Baloney!
Wow, such a deal: teachers lose lots of money in exchange for the state promising to fund their unfunded promises of decades, again.