After 1 failure, Ill. Democrats keep scrambling for votes on key piece of budget plan

Ill. Democrats scramble for votes on pension plan

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Democratic leaders maneuvered furiously Tuesday to build support for a key piece of their budget plan but came up short — temporarily, at least.

A proposal to borrow money so the state can make its annual contribution to government pension systems fell a single vote short of passing in the Illinois House. But one of the lawmakers voting “no” was then persuaded to file a motion seeking to vote again, leaving the measure’s fate up in the air.

At issue is the $3.7 billion that Illinois owes to the retirement funds for downstate teachers, state employees and other government workers. With a $13 billion hole in the budget, Illinois doesn’t have enough money to make the annual payment.

Democratic leaders propose borrowing the money, as the state did last year.

They argue that borrowing will cost the state about $1 billion in interest. Skipping the annual payment, they said, would cost the pension systems $20 billion in lost interest and revenue over the years, forcing them to sell assets just to keep making monthly payments to retirees.

“The only responsible way to meet our obligations to the pension systems is not by taking a hike, not by taking a walk but by borrowing the money we need in order to pay the systems,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.

Republicans generally oppose that idea but haven’t provided a specific alternative.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said there’s no need to decide now where to find the pension money. That can be left until later in the year, he said.

The pension issue is a major unresolved piece of the patchwork budget that the Democratic majority is assembling.

Democrats appear poised to delay paying billions of dollars it owes to groups and businesses that provide services for the state. They also want to approve large pools of money and give Gov. Pat Quinn the authority to decide who gets the money and who doesn’t.

Democratic leaders hope to finish the budget by May 31. After that, new voting requirements take effect and Republican support would be required to pass any budget.

Cross called the Democratic plan “a budget that has a lot of duct tape around it. … It doesn’t really add up, but that’s what we’ve grown accustomed to in the state of Illinois.”

The bill is SB3514.

Online: www.ilga.gov