Health & Fitness

Pension showdown starts today; Stantis cartoon: Lincoln's party in Land of Lincoln; GOP chaos: why should you care? Reboot Illinois Daily Tip-Off

Pension reform in the Illinois Senate and a discussion of dysfunction in the Illinois GOP are featured today. Plus: Rahm will "steamroll" opponents in 2015, says consultant.

PARTY OF LINCOLN, LAND OF LINCOLN How bad are things going for the Illinois Republican Party? Click the image for cartoonist Scott Stantis' view.
 

GRAND OLD DYSFUNCTIONAL PARTY Does it matter that Illinois' Republican Party has descended into internal chaos and is on a fast track to irrelevancy in the General Assembly? In a word: yes. One ruling party and one irrelevant party is not a formula for good government. Reboot editor Matt Dietrich, with help from former Gov. Jim Edgar, explains in a blog post today

CAMPAIGN 2014 Gov. Pat Quinn could score some big political points on Attorney General Lisa Madigan if he strongly and loudly endorses House Speaker Michael Madigan's pension reform bill, writes Crain's Chicago Business political columnist Greg Hinz. But with two Madigans involved, it gets complicated. We look at this today on our Campaign 2014 Scorecard

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

RAHM'S 2015 STEAMROLLER The Chicago Teachers Union has mounted a campaign to defeat Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015. Political consultant Will Caskey has three words for this effort: "big," "bold," "ridiculous." He explains how not only will Emanuel win reelection in 2015, but he'll also " steamroll CTU’s allies on the City Council. All nine of them (speaking generously)." Caskey knows about this kind of stuff and he writes about it in uniquely informative and entertaining fashion. Highly recommended. Click here.

DAILY TIP-OFF The Illinois Senate today is expected to vote on, and almost certainly to pass, a pension reform bill sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton that is backed by state's public employee unions. That dominates the news today, as passing this bill sets up a showdown between Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan -- whose pension reform bills are vastly different. The biggest difference is that Cullerton's bill might save taxpayers $46 billion through 2045 while Madigan's projects $150 billion in savings. 

Columnist Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago Business is unequivocal: "Mr. Cullerton's bill is a poor, poor excuse for needed change. All it will do is give lawmakers the cover to go home and say they've taken care of the problem when, in fact, all they will have done is keep labor unions from working against them in the next election while the state continues to hemorrhage red ink and jobs." That's been the consensus opinion of newspaper editorial boards too (both major Chicago newspapers have said as much this week). 

Cullerton is adamant that his bill is better because it won't be nullified by the Illinois Supreme Court since the unions won't sue over it. That's because his bill gives employees choices in how their benefits will be restructured. But today's Chicago Tribune story notes otherwise: "'A choice that is kind of like 'Either jump off a cliff or I'll shoot you' is not really a very good choice,' said Bob Pinkerton, (Illinois Retired Teachers Association) vice president. He said Cullerton's legislation does not provide "any choice that is beneficial" to the group's 35,000 retirees." We link to these and other pension stories in the Daily Tip-Off section of our website.

Charter school supporters throughout Illinois will appreciate an effort Wednesday in Chicago by a group called Charter Parents United. The group staged a massive rally downtown to protest what they see as unfair funding for charter schools, which have seen exponential growth in Chicago. But the subtext is more important: The group formed in large part because charter schools have become a scapegoat in the highly emotional and controversial plan by Chicago Public Schools to close 54 non-charters next school year. 

Find links to these and other important Illinois reform stories in our Daily Tip-Off section.

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

DEMAND ACTION The pension crisis in Illinois threatens every aspect of Illinois government, from education to public safety. It has wrecked the state's credit rating and is blamed in large part for Illinois' stubbornly high unemployment rate (at 9.5 percent, the highest in the region and second highest in the country). Help us tell lawmakers in Springfield that Illinois needs major pension reform now. Sign our petition here.

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