Bipartisan success 2013

The Illinois Policy Institute introduced the only comprehensive pension reform plan during the 2013 legislative session. The Institute’s pension solution is the first plan that shifts Illinois workers out of the state’s broke defined benefit system and into a 401(k)-style plan, giving workers control and the pension system solvency. The introduction of this legislation has...

• The Illinois Policy Institute introduced the only comprehensive pension reform plan during the 2013 legislative session. The Institute’s pension solution is the first plan that shifts Illinois workers out of the state’s broke defined benefit system and into a 401(k)-style plan, giving workers control and the pension system solvency. The introduction of this legislation has shifted pension discussions, leading to both Republicans and Democrats demanding a 401(k)-style solution.

• Over the summer months in 2012, the Illinois Policy Institute pointed out that all legislative votes in committees were not accessible by the general public. The Institute held several meetings with the clerks at the Illinois General Assembly and worked together to revamp the Illinois General Assembly’s website. Today, every Illinoisan has access to records of legislators’ votes on every bill, in every committee at any time.

• Annual workforce characteristics, compensation and employee mobility of public sector employees will now be required to be published annually, due to an Institute report. The report shed light on the drastic disparities between compensation of public and private sector employees. Exposing the cost of taxpayer-funded workers led to the Illinois General Assembly to passing Institute-inspired legislation requiring transparency for public sector workers.

• The monopoly of unions in Illinois is slowly beginning to crack, as the Institute stewarded the passage of legislation that prevents all government workers who have managerial or supervisory positions from unionizing.

• Legislation was introduced during the spring session that would have imposed a three-year moratorium on the establishment of any charter school that had any virtual components. Due to the Institute educating many legislators on this issue, the bill was amended, drastically reducing the scope and the negative effects of the introduced bill.

• The Institute stood alone opposing the expansion of Medicaid in Illinois while many business groups, such as the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association supported the measure. The Institute worked tirelessly to make sure that not a single Republican voted for the expansion in either the House or the Senate.

• Public water and sewer utilities are now easier to privatize.

• A resolution was introduced, under the Institute’s guidance, which publicly opposes a progressive tax in Illinois—there are currently 64 co-sponsors to this initiative.

• In the past several years, our neighboring states of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin have passed influential ”Right-to-Work” legislation, ending forced unionization in their public sector workforce. The proactive work of the Institute led to the introduction of Right-to-Work legislation the Illinois General Assembly, an important first step in building momentum on this issue.

• Since 2010, the Institute has been pushing for local pension accountability, a measure that would shift locally created pension costs from the state’s budget to the control of local governments. The Institute held a statewide tour in 2012, traveling to 8 cities and educating hundreds of residents on the benefit local control. The efforts led by the Institute resulted in House Speaker Michael Madigan assuring lawmakers that local pension accountability is “going to happen.”

• Comprehensive online local government transparency reform passed out of a House committee, due to the detailed work of the Institute’s statewide transparency effort.

• The Institute exposed the archaic nature of not publicly posting union contracts until after ratifications. The work of the Institute’s director of labor reform led to legislation and several committee hearings attempting to changes this process.

• The Government Affairs Department worked with members of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules to prevent a rule that would have imposed a tax on shipping and handling costs on all shipments originating Illinois.