To paraphrase Nobel winning economist and NY Times columnist in his piece this morning, “Let’s get this straight. Illinois is not facing a pension benefit crisis.”
There is a state funding crisis. The political leaders of this state, both Republicans and Democrats, refuse to address the fact that they can’t pay their bills by taxing the rich at the same rate that they tax the poor.
Taxing the poor is pointless. They have no money. That’s the definition of poor. The working class (what we now call the “middle class,” although somehow I don’t feel in the middle) have little in the way of discretionary dollars. Corporations and the state’s 1%? That’s where the money is, folks.
We now have the situation where Bizarro World Democrats and a handful of Republicans are proposing their latest version of Squeezy the pension killing cobra: HB6258.
This bill would:
- Increase the retirement age of public employees
- Decrease the pay of public employees
- Reduce the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for public employees
In his blog piece today, Glen Brown discusses the differences between Rhode Island and Illinois.
Rhode Island is also going through the process of attacking public employee pensions. Glen is exactly right that a key difference between Rhode Island and Illinois is that Rhode Island has no constitutional language protecting public employee pensions like we do in Illinois.
This is an important fact. It raises the issue of whether HB6258, or any bill like it, can pass constitutional muster in the courts. And it will end up in court if passed.
When you go to Springfield on January 3rd, this is an important point to bring up with your representatives.
They are sworn to uphold the constitution, after all. They frequently need to be reminded of this.
But in addition there are two more issues.
1. Nothing in these proposals will change the fundamental problem of state funding. Cutting a senior’s cost of living adjustment to their pension won’t pay the state’s bills.
2. Becoming Bizarro World Democrats will have a political cost attached. It has already likely doomed any Democrats’ chances of winning the governorship next time (unless the state’s Republicans are totally clueless and run a Tea Party candidate again).
For some politicians, upholding the constitution is not enough. They need to be reminded that they need to get elected next time or get a real job.
Fred Klonsky 