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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2013
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STATE LAWMAKERS PASS PENSION FIX IN LANDMARK VOTE
SAVING THE SYSTEM
County votes Hobson to RTA board Lakewood businessman to take post on Jan. 1 By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
AP photos
Lawmakers work Tuesday toward passing pension legislation while on the House floor during a session at the Illinois State Capitol. The House voted 62-53 in favor of the plan, sending it to Gov. Pat Quinn, who has said he will sign it.
Local legislators split evenly on controversial bill By KEVIN P. CRAVER
How they voted
kcraver@shawmedia.com A controversial but significant overhaul of Illinois’ ailing state-run pension systems is on its way to Gov. Pat Quinn after barely squeaking through both houses of the General Assembly. In a landmark Tuesday vote, the House and Senate approved a bill aimed at saving the systems by reining in annual cost-of-living increases and raising retirement ages. Senate Bill 1, which undoubtedly will be taken to court over its constitutionality by the state’s powerful public-sector unions, passed 30-24 in the Senate and 62-53 in the House. Quinn congratulated lawmakers after the vote and pledged to sign the bill as soon as he received it. House Speaker Michael Madigan called the legislation a “well thought-out, well-balanced bill” at the start of House debate. He and the three other legislative leaders – Senate President John Cullerton, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno – finished hashing out the bill last week after a 10-member committee from both hous-
State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, discusses pension legislation on the House floor Tuesday at the Illinois State Capitol. McSweeney voted against the pension bill. es tasked with creating a long-needed fix fell short. “Something’s got to be done. We can’t go on dedicating so much of our resources to this one sector of pensions,” Madigan said. The five state-run pension systems for suburban and downstate teachers, rank-andfile-state employees, judges, university employees and General Assembly members are underfunded by at least $100 billion. More than 20 percent of the state’s current 2014 budget is going to pay the state’s pension obligations, which have
swallowed almost all of the revenue from the 67 percent income tax increase that lawmakers imposed in 2011. Bond rating agencies routinely cite legislative inaction on pension reform in its repeated downgrades of Illinois’ credit rating, which now is the lowest of all 50 states. The bill will save an estimated $160 billion over the next 30 years with the aim of fully funding the pension systems by 2044. Under the plan, the 3 percent COLA retirees get still
See PENSIONS, page A4
Senate Bill 1, which overhauls Illinois’ state-run pension systems, passed 30-24 in the Senate, where local Sens. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, and Karen McConnaughay, R-St. Charles, voted yes, and Dan Duffy, R-Lake Barrington, voted no. It passed on a 62-53 vote in the House, where Reps. Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, and Tim Schmitz, R-Batavia, voted yes, and Reps. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, Mike Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, and David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, voted no.
WOODSTOCK – With little fanfare and no discussion, the McHenry County Board chose its next representative on the Regional Transportation Authority Board. County Board members voted Tuesday morning, 220, to appoint Lakewood businessman Blake Hobson to the post effective Jan. 1. He will replace longtime GOP insider Al Jourdan, whose five-year term expired in April but has continued to serve until a replacement was named. Hobson, who has served on the County Board, Lakewood Village and Nunda Township boards, co-owns Huntley-based manufacturing company Image Industries. He beat out nine other applicants for the $25,000-a-year job. The 16-member RTA Board has financial oversight of the three Chicago mass-transit boards of Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority. Jourdan was appointed as the county’s RTA representative in 2008. He spent 30 years
Blake Hobson
What it means The McHenry County Board voted Tuesday, 22-0, to appoint Blake Hobson as the county’s representative on the Regional Transportation Authority Board. County Board members Sandra Fay Salgado, R-McHenry, and Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, were absent.
See RTA BOARD, page A8
Detroit OK to use bankruptcy Judge: Pensions can be altered By ED WHITE
At issue
The Associated Press
On the Net You can read a copy of the bill and see how lawmakers voted at http:// shawurl.com/w9q.
Inside n How Illinois pension deal could affect retirees. PAGE A4 n Key details of the decision on how to fix the state’s $100 billion public pension shortfall. PAGE A4
Voice your opinion What do you think of the pension reform legislation? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
Officials will confront $18 billion in debt with a plan that might pay Detroit’s creditors just pennies on the dollar and is sure to include touchy negotiations over the pensions of about 23,000 retirees and 9,000 workers.
DETROIT – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Detroit can use bankruptcy to cut employee pensions and relieve itself of other crushing debts, handing a defeat to the city’s unions and retirees and shifting the case into a delicate new phase. Judge Steven Rhodes, who wondered aloud why the bankruptcy had not happened years ago, said pensions can be altered just like any contract because the Michigan Constitution does not offer bulletproof protection for employee benefits. But he signaled a desire for a measured approach and warned city officials that they
See DETROIT, page A8
LOCALLY SPEAKING
Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
CRYSTAL LAKE
CARY
NUNDA TOWNSHIP SUED OVER PROJECTS
VILLAGE OPTS TO FREEZE ITS TAX LEVY
McHenry County has filed a lawsuit against Nunda Township Highway Department after its commissioner Mike Lesperance failed to act on warnings of potential ordinance violations. The lawsuit says the township violated county ordinances when it diverted stormwater runoff without obtaining permits. For more, see page B1.
The Cary Village Board on Tuesday chose to freeze its property tax levy. Instead of increasing its annual levy by $52,000, Village Board members voted to keep the next fiscal year’s levy at $2.45 million. The proposed extension was recommended in order to help cover the costs of the village’s police pension fund. For more, see page B1.
CRYSTAL LAKE: Prairie Ridge girls basketball holds off CL South for 44-38 win. Sports, C1
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