Illinois Supreme Court debates pension system for state employees

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- State employees are fighting back outside the Capitol and inside the State Supreme Court over the state's pension system.

Illinois Solicitor General Carolyn Shapiro argued that the Illinois fiscal situation is in such dire straits that it amounts to an emergency - one that the law describes "police powers" can be used to adjust pension benefits.

"A promise is a promise and I'm looking to our politicians and the Supreme Court to do the right thing," said Gwen Harrison, state employee.

Harrison is a librarian with the Secretary of State's Office. She's the lead plaintiff in the case now before the state's highest court.

The lawsuit was actually filed against former Gov. Pat Quinn; although the governor has changed, the issue has not.

At issue: these simple sentences from the Illinois Constitution on pensions: "(They) shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired."

"Like all contracts, they can be altered, they are not absolute," Shapiro said. "Recession of this depth and length of the great recession was not foreseeable."

Several justices, however, sounded skeptical.

"Recession is an emergency, police powers should be invoked, what about the income tax hike?" said Justice Robert Thomas, Illinois Supreme Court.

"A constitution is not a guideline," said Aaron Maduff, State University Retirement System attorney. "A constitution tells us how we limit the power of government."

For state workers, the issue is simple.

"We've challenged it in the past when they didn't put in what they were supposed to and the Supreme Court said, 'come back to us when they don't pay your benefits,' and that's why we're here today," said Dan Montgomery, Illinois Federation of Teachers.

Sonny Garcia, an Illinois State University employee, says their pensions should be guaranteed "because it's a promise from the state of Illinois and it's in the constitution."

"All of us coming together and working together, we can find solutions but it cannot be strictly upon the backs of state employees," Harrison said.

Illinois has the nation's most underfunded pension liability, with nearly $100 billion in liability. It is against that backdrop that Supreme Court justices have been asked to rule quickly - perhaps before May.

"The governor's office will take appropriate action depending on how the Illinois Supreme Court rules. The current pension system is unaffordable and is choking the state's budget. True pension reform is necessary to ensure the financial future of Illinois," Gov. Bruce Rauner's office said in a statement. "Under Governor Rauner's pension proposal, benefits earned to date are not impacted while benefits earned after July 1 will be equal to the benefits available to state employees hired after 2011. This plan will save taxpayers $2.2 billion in FY16 and more than $100 billion over 30 years."