Skillicorn Reiterates Opposition to Legislative Pensions

Republican candidate for State Representative Allen Skillicorn sent the following post card before the election:

Allen Skillicorn was one of three Republican candidates for State Representative who pledged not to take a legislative pension.

Allen Skillicorn was one of three Republican candidates for State Representative who pledged not to take a legislative pension.

Allen Skillicorn uses the head in the sand analogy to bring home the point

Allen Skillicorn uses the head in the sand analogy to bring home his pension point.

Besides reminding me of his pre-election mailing, Skillicorn sent the following press release:

IMRF Investigation Reminds Us To End State Legislative Pensions Now

While the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund investigates the McHenry County Board to determine if part-time county board members work a minimum of 1,000 hours to qualify for an IMRF pension, I want to remind readers that the Illinois General Assembly is also a part-time legislature.

Saving taxpayers’ money is a priority for me, so while we discuss the pensions of 24 board members, I propose eliminating pensions for all 177 part-time state legislators for even bigger savings.

It’s parasitic and downright greedy for a politician to accept a pension at taxpayer expense.

It’s no secret that politicians like House Speaker Mike Madigan voted for both pension sweeteners and pension holidays. It’s also no secret that Illinois pensions are underfunded.

Unfortunately, the Illinois political class is afraid or unwilling to address the issue.

Effective immediately, all legislative pensions should be terminated; all new legislators should be enrolled in a self-funded retirement savings plan and all incumbent members should be transitioned out of their Tier 1 & 2 pensions.

Since the general assembly has authority over it’s own compensation for future terms, there are no legal hurdles to eliminating these lucrative and self-serving legislative pensions.

How can lawmakers be taken seriously on pension reform, if they themselves are signed up to receive one?

As a candidate for Illinois State Representative, I pledge to refuse a pension once elected.

What’s more, I will introduce these reforms without delay.


Comments

Skillicorn Reiterates Opposition to Legislative Pensions — 4 Comments

  1. Time to enact TERM LIMITS is long over due.

    This would eliminate legislative pensions with the added
    benefit of curbing corruption and bringing new ideas into
    the legislative body.

  2. Mr. Skillicorn needs to get through another election before he can do squat.

    The fiscal problem in Illinois is not because some elected officials are getting a pension, the fiscal problem is the Constitutional guarantee and using pension fund money to pay for social programs we can no longer afford unless we increase taxes.

    Where in his diatribe does he mention a repeal of the Constitutional guarantee?

    I agree with Honest Abe.

    Incumbents are collecting campaign funds too easily.

    $5,000,000 spent on a State Legislative race is downright sinful!

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