Republican legislative leaders predict little will come of today's special session on pension reform.
House Speaker Michael Madigan said yesterday that any hope that a bill will pass lies with a meeting scheduled tomorrow between House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Gov. Pat Quinn.
Cross, however, called Madigan’s remarks “disingenuous” and said all four legislative leaders have been invited to the meeting. “This is very serious," said Cross. "That approach that the Speaker used is really one of the reasons we’re in this mess. It’s politics after politics after politics.”
Cross does not support any of the pension proposals that are likely to be up for consideration. Madigan Wednesday said a House Bill applying to state workers or members of the General Assembly, which the Senate approved, would be “progress.” But Cross said he will not support a plan that leaves out teachers and university employees. “This nibbling around the edges and then claiming, ‘We have pension reform and that we fixed it’ again is an old playbook."
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno Radogno agreed with Cross that passage of the bill in the House could stall efforts at more comprehensive proposals. “The concern is that it will stop forward progress because a lawsuit will immediately be filed, in which case probably the party in power would say, ‘Well, we’ve got to wait until that unfolds and see what happens.’"
But not all of her GOP colleagues see it that way. “I would argue that if we pass this, it will lead to passage [of reform] in the other systems,” said Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican.
You can read Jamey's full report at: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/senate-republicans-split-on-partial.html
In the pic: Not much jubilation at Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair.
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