Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes Governor Quinn will sign the bill. The governor said last week he was still reviewing it and hadn’t made up his mind.
“How do you spell review?” Quinn asked. “R-E-V-I-E-W. I’m reviewing that bill. You’ve got to do your homework.”
Governor Quinn has apparently been doing that homework all weekend, because it is still not clear whether he will sign the city pension reform bill that is on his desk.
The bill, passed by state lawmakers, would raise the retirement age and cut benefits for some Chicago workers. The bill also requires the city to pay more into the pension system, as well as more contributions from employees.
Mayor Emanuel is considering raising property taxes in the city – something critics of the bill do not like. Ted Dabrowski of the Illinois Policy Institute said the local government should not be asking tax payers to pay more through higher taxes.
“People will leave. Businesses will leave,” Dabrowski said. “We have to make sure we pass the tough reforms before we ever pass higher taxes.”
But supporters of pension reform say the bill, which covers municipal workers and laborers, addresses a long brewing problem that past state lawmakers have failed to address. Laurence Msall of the Federation of Chicago said the bill is a reasonable step in the right direction.
“It saves the city millions of dollars,” Msall said. “It requires increased contribution by the city and employees. It changes the rate of growth of the pension. It still maintains the define benefit.”
Governor Quinn does not have any public events scheduled on Monday. It is unclear when the public might hear from him on Monday’s deadline.