There has been confusion as to whether SEIU local 73 which represents Chicago Park District employees agreed to Bill 1523. They did not, calling it “a devastating pension reform bill.”
There is concern that the Madigan bill will be used as a template for cutting state employee pensions.
Here is the SEIU local 73 statement:
On November 6, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 1523, a devastating pension reform bill. This bill impacts both current employees and retirees of the Chicago Park District.
In the last few months, we had been in negotiations with Park District management on fair and constitutional pension reform. With the Park District pension fund suffering a major shortfall similar to the state pension systems, reform was inevitable.
Shared sacrifice was made in the form of increasing the amount of pension contribution 1 percent in 2015, 2017, and 2019. But, we also made gains by increasing the employer multiplier ratio used by District management from 1.1 to 2.9.
On the night of Tuesday, Nov. 5, House Speaker Michael Madigan added House Amendment 003 to SB 1523. This amendment included language which would change the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for current retirees.
This change to the pension of current retirees was never discussed, negotiated, or agreed to by the Union. We withdrew our support of this pension reform when the pensions of current retirees were under attack.
The changes to the pensions of current retirees make this bill unconstitutional and we will fight this in court if necessary.
We met with Governor Quinn this morning to ask him to veto SB 1523 as it currently stands and protect the pensions of current retirees. Retirees have paid their fair share and should have not be impacted by unconstitutional legislation.
If you know of a Park District retiree who would like to be a representative in a lawsuit to fight for their pension, contact the Member Resource Center at 312.588.7630 immediately.
The We Are One Illinois coalition has also released a statement on SB 1523.
Fred Klonsky 
Hi Fred, I just want to say (again) thank you for your efforts on behalf of retired and active teachers. I won’t be ready for Medicare for two years but am actively following these developments.
The We Are One coalition and IRTA should join forces with SEIU local 73 in their lawsuit against SB 1523. If that bill is found to be constitutional, the rest of us can kiss our COLAs goodbye.
Well, lets hope for a long court fight anyway. I think Madigan has these judges in his back pocket.