Posted by Ray Long at 10:05 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD–Gov. Pat Quinn plans on Wednesday to sign legislation aimed at saving billions of dollars through reforms of the state pension system that will increase the retirement age and cut benefits for new employees.
The move would give Quinn and lawmakers a chance to crow about big savings that would take effect years down the road, potentially $119 billion over 35 years.
Estimates on how much the move could help the state’s current financial gap of up to $13 billion for the budget year beginning July 1 are far less. They range from $300 million to $1 billion.
Further, the pension legislation is not expected to whittle down the state’s worst-in-the-nation pension debt of $77 billion to $90 billion, critics of the legislation have argued.
Future savings are expected to come from increasing the general retirement age to 67 from 62 or lower in many cases, as well as limiting the salary level on which pension benefits are based. The legislation also would strike at one form of double-dipping by banning public employees from getting a pension from one government while collecting a salary from another.
Quinn’s office announced the Wednesday bill signing ceremony in a press advisory this evening.