Pam Althoff

A press release from State Senator Pam Althoff:

End of Session Review

MCHENRY, IL – State Sen. Pamela Althoff  said the 2013 legislative session ended in great disappointment on May 31. While measures such as concealed carry passed the Illinois General Assembly, the largest and most pressing issue – pension reform – failed to garner enough support to pass both chambers.

With unfunded pension liabilities reaching $100 billion by some conservative estimates, the Illinois General Assembly’s main priority for this session was to reform and stabilize the state retirement systems. Nevertheless, lawmakers are leaving Springfield without accomplishing that task.

Despite different versions passing each chamber – Senate Bill 2404 passed the Senate and Senate Bill 1 passed the House – neither chamber was able to pass one that the other did. Senate President John Cullerton called Senate Bill 1 for a vote, but it failed in the Senate 16-42. House Speaker Michael Madigan refused to call Senate Bill 2404 in his chamber at all.

Althoff expressed her disappointment at the lack of leadership shown in the state.

“With a super majority in both chambers, you would think this session would not be ending like this,” Althoff said. “The idea was to pass something. It might not have been perfect or something that everyone would agree to, but we needed something as at least a benchmark to know where to go from here. We couldn’t even do that. People need to have assurances about their retirement and their future. This failure creates an unknown for them and it’s an unknown that is completely unnecessary.”

Althoff concluded by saying she wished that she was returning to the 32nd District with some better news for retirees and for the taxpayers of Illinois.