In what one commentator sarcastically called a profile in courage, Democratic Party Speaker Michael Madigan has let it be known that the General Assembly will be called back into session shortly after the 2nd of December.
December 2nd is the deadline for filing petitions to run for the House and Senate in the 2014 election. By waiting until after the filing deadline, the suspicion is that the leaders are offering their members some protection for voting against the interests of their constituents.
That is because everyone is assuming that the Speaker is calling back the House, and Senate President Cullerton is calling back the Senate, to vote on a bill cutting state retiree’s COLAs.
A Christmas gift to Illinois seniors.
And the 5th, 6th or 7th day of Chanukah.
A top aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan told Illinois lawmakers Wednesday to be ready for a special session in Springfield in December, emailing them shortly after legislative leaders met to discuss solutions to the state’s $100 billion pension crisis.
Madigan Chief of Staff Tim Mapes told Democrats in the email to reserve time for a “possible” session beginning Dec. 3. He also asked them to “keep other days that week available.” Senate President John Cullerton later sent an email to Senate Democrats, asking them to keep Dec. 3-4 open.
Voting on a pension plan isn’t specifically mentioned in either email, but Madigan spokesman Steve Brown told The Associated Press that pensions were “the likely reason” that the legislature would return. […]
Dec. 3 is the day after the deadline for candidates to file paperwork for the 2014 campaign, including anyone challenging incumbents. The timing is important because scheduling a vote on a divisive issue such as pension reform after the filing deadline would remove the threat for some lawmakers of a primary challenge based on their decision.
The filing deadline is a bogus story.
The possibility of primary opposition coming forward even today is a nearly impossible task.
This is on the Democrats as a party. Quinn is their candidate. Vallas is their candidate. The orders of Democrat Madigan and Cullerton will be heard and obeyed by their sycophants in the General Assembly.
Retirees and working families in Illinois will need to look elsewhere for someone to represent them.
And our union lawyers are drawing up the paperwork for the court challenge as this is being written.
Fred Klonsky 
Active and retired teachers are targeted for individual financial pillage by Madigan, Cullerton, Quinn and the Democratic super-majority in Illinois. If you needed any more proof that it’s not about a revenue or pension solution, this is it. It is all about politics, corruption and $$$$$ paybacks.
http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2013/11/13/park-district-pension-reform
Fred,
Excellent interview on Chicago Tonight with SEIU President.
Any chance for losing this years COLA?
John this is an over reaction I’m sure. But to ask such a question is reflective of either total insensitivity or oblivion. If your question is reflective of the general awareness of our retires concerning the issues at hand then we are in deep shit. As I said this may be a total over reaction and more reflective of my anger to the news than anything else. I do apologize for my self serving rant.
I think I get it. I apologize.
Same for the rant.
This is not a good situation. Retirees and future retirees are being lined up against the wall.
Ready! Aim!…(to be continued after Dec. 2.)
Things are going to get VERY UGLY! Get our lawyers ready to counter-attack!
As Nekritz explained, she did not look or care at what the cuts will do to retirees. She was only looking at what the amount of “savings” would be. Most of the others will probably do the same.
Our only hope is going to be the courts.
As it turned out, the Illinois Supreme Court was our last resort, and we won that battle. We must remain vigilant however, because there are still some politicians that want to cut pensions directly or indirectly, anywhere, anyway, and anytime they can!
Great work Fred and fellow bloggers on this. As a retired teacher, penalizing me due to my meager amount of social security is out of the question. After WWI my grandfather and other veterans marched on Washington to get Veteran benefits, seemed as though that worked, without their march there would be no benefits for Veterans. I am also a Vietnam Veteran, 4 years 1966 to 1969. 6 years of college/masters work, 36 years on the books for teaching, the last 6 in a private state funded provided school, where the CEO (is that what they call them today?) sits in another state and collects over $300,00 in perks from state funds, documented. My grandfather was retiring FBI/Treasury agent and in order to save money the Fed’s extended retirement 2 years and transferred all the old guys to guard banks all over the nation, he ended up in South Dakota, and as his friends were united all went, served the last 2 years living away from home, instead of quitting and saving Uncle Sam money. I suppose we are all so conditioned to obey that the spoilers we have voted for time and time again have formed a pack, and notice spoilers does not mean all inclusive. When I worked for an educational corporation “There is no union here, and there never will be a union here”. As far as understanding how deep the rabbit hole goes, we all have opinions, charity contributions to the State of Illinois is not one of my endgame strategies. We as educators have gone above and beyond, suffered emotional trauma, physical attacks, intimidation, and personal loss of constitutional rights just to sit back and remain passive?. “Some folks are born to wave the flag, ooh there red white and blue, and when the band plays “Hail to the chief”, oh,they point the cannon at you, Lord, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senators son, some folks are born silver spoon in hand,… and when you ask them how much should we give they only answer, more, more, more, yoh, it ain’t me.” Do forgive me for ranting. “Change” is about all we are going to have in our pockets if we allow a small consortium to rule thru fear.
I don’t live in Illinois anymore, but they have my pension funds……so all of you out there will have to seriously think about the vote next fall. The legislature has had sufficient time to get this job done, but they seem to have adopted another Illinois Politician’s plan. And we lose in the long run.