Senate Republicans Help Kill Pension Reform Bill... For Now

For the last month, Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno made headlines statewide as they championed a “grand bargain” package of 13 bills to end Illinois’ historic budget crisis.

On Wednesday, though, the spirit of bipartisan cooperation seemed to dissipate quickly as Cullerton began calling parts of the package for votes and Republicans withheld support. Even a pension reform bill that Gov. Bruce Rauner has demanded since last summer failed to generate a single Republican vote as Radogno accused Cullerton of breaking their agreement to not vote on the budget package in piecemeal fashion.

“I frankly am surprised that this bill is coming up,” Radogno said when Cullerton called the pension reform bill — Senate Bill 11 — for a vote before the full Senate. “…The agreement was that we would move all these (bills) forward together. This bill is very, very major and… is intricately tied to other pieces of the package. I was unaware you intended to call this bill.. I think this is a breach of our agreement and I would ask people to vote ‘present.’ We can certainly come back to it at another time if it doesn’t pass.”

Reboot editor Matt Dietrich was there and has the full story.

And to see how your senator voted, click here.

Reminder: In order to read the full article, you'll need to subscribe to Reboot Illinois. Enter the code patch (all lower case) for a discounted rate. Offer ends March 31st!