.
The Urgent! Call Now! emails are piling up in the in boxes.
Madigan appears ready to bring his nuclear option pension bill to committee and then to the floor of the House.
If he has the votes.
Senate President Cullerton appears not willing to cooperate.
Greg Hinz reports that the each are drawing swords.
Mr. Cullerton’s spokeswoman, Rikeesha Phelon, is out with a statement reacting to the Madigan bill, and it sure looks like the fight is on between the two top Democrats.
“The speaker and Cullerton have the same goal with different approaches,” the statement says. “Cullerton has worked to build consensus for a plan that is clearly constitutional. To that end he has sought to work with Republicans, members of his caucus and labor leaders. Those efforts will continue this week.”
Then comes the knife:
“The roll call on SB 35 may be instructive to those who are guessing at how unilateral pension changes will fare in the Senate,” adds the statement, referring to an earlier bill that is quite similar to Mr. Madigan’s new proposal. That bill “only received 23 yes votes,” well short of the 30 needed
Not because Cullerton is our friend.
This is a fight that carries more baggage than the underbelly of an Airbus.
So, call now. Absolutely.
But don’t be surprised if 1) Madigan doesn’t have the votes to bring it to the floor of the House. If he doesn’t bring it to the floor tomorrow, than he is short by a lot. And 2) Cullerton will never bring it to a vote in the Senate.
Madigan is not the all-powerful Oz that he once was.
House members may be wondering how long the old man will be around – what with his kid running for Governor and the Feds looking into his relationship with the scandal-ridden UNO charters.
Fred Klonsky 
Should be interesting, Fred. He seems to have gone out of his way to stir up trouble here, like taking away (prospectively) sick leave service credit for CTPF as well as the State pensions.
The 8-page preamble to the bill comes right out of a Soviet history book for those who know the real story.
I’ve been busy tonight leaving phone messages, facebook postings, and emails to my senator, Dan Duffy, and to my representative, Sullivan, asking that they oppose the forthcoming “mega-bill,” HB 34ll and any other bill that attacks our pensions. Thank you, Fred, for your diligence and for always keeping us up to speed on what’s happening out there. I urge everyone reading this to please post your request……let’s show solidarity.
This is a true form of terrorism!!