Pols respond to Governor Quinn’s proposed budget plan: Raoul says “…budget cries out for pension reform”

 

By Juanita Bratcher

 

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon commended Illinois Governor Pat Quinn for proposing a balanced budget plan for fiscal year 2014, however, State Senators Kwame Raoul (D-13) and Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-16^th) said the budget falls short in the areas of education and pension reform.

“I commend Governor Quinn for proposing a balanced budget that will help us pay down almost $2 billion in overdue bills and maintain our investment in early childhood education and need-based grants for college students,” said Simon..

‪“My office will continue to advocate for fair K-12 and higher education budgets despite growing pension obligations. My office is committed to sharing in the sacrifice, which is why I return part of my salary to the state and voluntarily cut my budget 14 percent since fiscal year 2012.”

Raoul said the “budget cries out for pension reform. We’ve reached the point where the year’s pension payment outweighs the investment we’re making in educating our children. It’s time for a serious conversation, followed by meaningful action, about stopping the runaway pension train.

“While realizing that past governmental irresponsibility, not hard-working state employees, caused this fiscal nightmare, we nevertheless must stop the bleeding now. Government’s failure to enact fair but sweeping pension reform is hampering our ability to invest in our future and deliver needed services to the people of this great state,” Raoul added.

Said Collins: “We must not allow our children to become sacrificial lambs on the altar of pension inaction. As a legislator, I must be their advocate and voice to fight for adequate and equitable school funding, noting that Quinn’s budget proposal cuts more than $300 million in funding from primary and secondary education.

“If Illinois approves these drastic cuts to education in order to pay our ever-increasing pension liability, we will have won a Pyrrhic victory. Without educated citizens and an educated workforce, we cannot move forward as a nation, and our children will not be able to compete in the global economy.”

Collins said “further cuts to General State Aid – the mechanism the state uses to try to equalize opportunity for children in property-poor districts – will disproportionately punish Illinois’ most vulnerable children, the ones who most desperately need the promise of public education. “For these children, education can mean the difference between a life of success and giving back, and a life of poverty and crime. Lives hang in the balance. Our children are waiting for us to act.”

For the second consecutive year, Simon is reducing her office’s headcount to achieve savings. She will continue to return one day of pay per month to the state and require her senior staff members to take four furlough days within the year.

Simon is a state leader in education and ethics reform. She recently released a report on game changing practices that will make college more affordable for students, and helped draft legislation that would create the strongest financial disclosure law for public servants in 40 years. Simon also chairs the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, key river and military base committees and advocates for domestic and sexual violence prevention.