Thursday, July 3, 2014

Senate President Cullerton Responds to Supreme Court Ruling in Kanerva v Weems

Senate President John J. Cullerton issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Kanerva v. Weems, 2014 IL 115811:
“Today, the Illinois Supreme Court made it very clear that the Pension Clause means what it says.  
The Court cannot rewrite the Pension Clause to include restrictions and limitations that the drafters did not express and the citizens of Illinois did not approve.  

The Clause was aimed at protecting the right of public employees and retirees to receive their promised benefits and insulate those benefits from diminishment or impairment by the General Assembly.

If the Court’s decision is predictive, the challenge of reforming our pension systems will remain.  
As I have said from the beginning, I am committed to identifying solutions that adhere to the plain language of the constitution.”

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