Tue May 31, 2016 4:15am EDT - Reuters
State lawmakers override bill veto to ease Chicago pension payments
CHICAGO Chicago will be able to spread
out state-mandated higher payments to its police and fire pensions after the
Illinois Legislature on Monday overrode the governor's veto of a bill that
became entangled in a political impasse.
The Senate voted 39-19 and the House voted 72-43 to undo Republican Governor
Bruce Rauner's veto on Friday that the city claimed would lead to a $300 million
property tax hike.
The bill gives Chicago short-term budget relief but will add to the city's
big pension funding gap.
The override bolsters Democrats, who control the legislature, as they battle
with Rauner over state assistance for Chicago and its public school system,
which is seeking state money for its teachers' pensions. The political impasse
had left Illinois without a complete budget 11 months into fiscal 2016.
Rauner called the bill "terrible policy," while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
accused him of using the city as a political pawn.
Rauner's spokeswoman Catherine Kelly released a statement reiterating the
governor's contention that the measure would end up costing Chicago taxpayers
$18.6 billion over time.
The measure alters a 2010 state law that boosted Chicago's payments to its
public safety workers' pensions in order to reach a 90 percent funded level by
2040. Under that law, Chicago's contribution will jump to nearly $834 million
this year from $290.4 million in 2015, according to city figures.
The new law reduces the payment to $619 million and allows for smaller
increases through 2020 than under the 2010 law. It also gives the police and
fire funds until 2055 to become 90 percent funded. The police system is 26
percent funded and the fire system 23 percent funded.
Chicago's fiscal 2016 budget assumed the bill's enactment by lowering the
city's contribution to police and fire pensions by about $220 million. The city
council also approved a $543 million phased-in property tax to exclusively cover
higher contributions to the two retirement systems.
House Speaker Michael Madigan was clearly delighted as he addressed reporters
after budget talks with Rauner.
"I think it was interesting the governor had nothing to say about the
override. I was raised not to cause embarrassment for people so I didn't raise
it," Madigan said.
The city must still deal with underfunding problems for its municipal and
laborers' retirement systems after the Illinois Supreme Court in March tossed
out a 2014 law that cut benefits and increased contributions to keep the pension
funds from insolvency.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Additional reporting by Dave McKinney in
Springfield, Illinois; Editing by Richard Chang)