Posted on 07/26/2015 8:40:19 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
More bad news for Chicago (and Illinois) taxpayers arrived Friday morning in a 35-page, double-sided packet. On one of the last pages: "The entire Act is void."
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Rita Novak tossed out Chicago's pension reform law. City Hall had negotiated the pension changes for municipal and labor employees with many of the city's unions on board. But Novak, using the Illinois Supreme Court's May pension opinion as her sword, ruled that the city's plan violates the Illinois Constitution: A public worker's pension is a contract that cannot be "diminished or impaired." lRelated Revenge of the pension loopholes
Yes, it's a Chicago-centric decision, but the implications menace governments statewide. Many of them promised too many retirement dollars to their employees. Now those governments are learning from judges that they'll have to impose draconian changes — higher taxes, fewer services, much more outsourcing, concentration on core responsibilities, or anything else they can do to slash costs. All because too many politicians gave away too much future tax revenue to too many workers — and then didn't properly fund their pension systems. Never forget that all of that foolish behavior was intentional.
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So, elected officials, show us the ugly. Show taxpayers what government in this state is going to look like. Packing 50 kids into each classroom? Outsourcing entire city departments? Demanding the necessary state permission to file for bankruptcy? Taxing residents to death so more move away? What?
Because it's clear there's nowhere near enough public money to meet all of these obligations.
Nor will there be enough money in countless tomorrows. State and local elected officials, many still in power, gave too much of it away.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
If only it were that easy. BTW the RINO REPUBLICAN party in this state should be sued too. They're guilty as the Democrats are. There really is no difference between the D's and R's in this state.
I hope Oklahoma is blown away in a tornado!
Obama was not a long term member of the Illinois state legislature. He was only in for six years if I remember correctly.
Luckily the state government is still shutdown. But it will cost us in the end somehow.
Hey now. Tornadoes are natural disasters. The pensions are entirely man made. Illinois won’t get better until Illinois gets far worse.
Some of us live here, and we don’t appreciate comments like the one that you made.
It’s not the Obama scum that pay 90% of the taxes.
Is reduced or impaired the same as shall not be infringed? If so, we have an interesting precedent here.
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