Todd Mertz. In Arizona…

– Todd Mertz is a teacher and IEA union and political activist.

The ruling came on Thursday.

Yes, I know we don’t live in Arizona.

But this is significant and absolutely great news for us too.  Here is why:

The language in the IL and AZ constitutions are very similar in protecting pension benefits for public employees.

In fact, both the IL and AZ constitution state that membership in the state pension systems is a contractual relationship, and as a result, “cannot be diminished or impaired.”

The Arizona Supreme Court overturned a law on Thursday that would have slashed COLA for retirees.  Ironically, it was the retired state judges that sued, as they are part of the AZ state retirement systems.

In Illinois, SB1 of course included four of the five state pension systems, but excluded the JRS (Judges Retirement System) because of our legislators’ logic that judges would be more likely to uphold the law if their own pensions weren’t on the chopping block.

More good news:  The AZ Supreme Court was unanimous in its ruling.

And even more good news:  The Justices said that “benefits vest at hiring.”  A promising statement for IL actives.

The AZ Justices even cited a previous 2001 IL case ruling as part of their reasoning.

Here in Illinois, both House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton refused to comment on the AZ ruling.

The high courts are known to look at how other states’ Supreme Courts have ruled on similar cases, given a similar constitutional framework.

Arizona, Illinois, and New York are the only three states with constitutionally-mandated protections for state pensions.

The Arizona case took over two years for a ruling.

How long will it take in IL?  Nobody knows.

An Earlier Arizona Victory for Teachers:

This isn’t the first time that the Arizona courts have ruled in favor of teachers and state employees.

If you were on my email list exactly two years ago, you may remember that I wrote about AZ teachers and public employees under fire, and our similar constitutional protections.

In 2010, Arizona legislators passed a law requiring teachers to pay more for their retirement plan out of each paycheck because of the state’s negligence to properly fund the systems (we know about that, don’t we?)

Seven teachers filed a lawsuit, and in February 2012, a judged overturned the law and required the teachers be reimbursed for their additional contributions.

Judge Willett stated that the law “illegally changed the contract between the state and its employees.”

She said,  “State law forbids laws impairing the obligation of a contract.  When the plaintiffs were hired as teachers, they entered a contractual relationship with the State regarding the public retirement system of which they became members.  Their retirement benefits were a valuable part of the consideration offered by the employers upon which the teachers relied when accepting employment.”

Great news in Arizona.

Let’s hope we have the same outcome here.

I’m optimistic, despite the fact that we live and work in unquestionably the most corrupt state.