Health & Fitness

Quinn appeals to IL Supreme Court on lawmaker pay

Posted by Reboot Illinois.

QUINN'S APPEAL Last week Gov. Pat Quinn lost a court battle over his cancellation of lawmakers' paychecks in July. Then he lost an appeal. Now he's filed a motion to get the case before the Illinois Supreme Court. Give Quinn some credit on the PR front here: His halt of legislators' pay -- and the subsequent lawsuit over it by fellow Democrats Michael Madigan and John Cullerton -- kept pension reform high in the news cycle throughout the summer doldrums. Beyond that, it represented terrible governance. It's time for Quinn to give it up and get to work with the General Assembly's pension committee. I explain more in a blog post today. Feel free to disagree in the comments.

  • READ IT Quinn argues in his motion that the General Assembly should have simply overridden his veto of its pay if it disagreed with him. Read the whole motion here.

SOUND OFF FOR PENSION REFORM The lawsuit over lawmaker paychecks was an attention-grabbing sideshow, and arguably worthwhile for keeping pension reform on our minds. But Quinn now needs to get active with the conference committee that's been working on a reform compromise since June and that may introduce a bill when the General Assembly reconvenes in three weeks. Tell him, your local legislators and the leaders of the General Assembly that you expect a strong bill that preserves retirement security for teachers and other public employees and also saves Illinois from being dragged further into the pension debt quagmire. Our Sound Off tool makes it easy. Click here!

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

ADM: INCENTIVE OR CORPORATE WELFARE? Archer Daniels Midland is No. 1 on the list of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Illinois. (See how all Illinois Fortune 500 members rank and where they're located in this infographic.) It wants to move its corporate headquarter from Decatur to a big city, and Chicago reportedly tops the list of preferred locations. But ADM wants $24 million in tax breaks to keep its top executives and tech center in Illinois. Scott Reeder says this would be crazy.  Find out why here.

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

MORE ON PROPERTY TAX Our list of the day looks at the Top 25 highest and lowest property tax rates by county in Illinois. A low rate does not translate to a low property tax bill, of course, but it's a pretty interesting look at the range paid by property owners statewide. Check it out here.

RAGING RAHM David Ormsby of the Illinois Observer reports that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is raking in big money for his 2015 reelection campaign. Among his high-profile donors is actor Robert DeNiro. See who else is on the contribution list here.

HEADLINES Here's what's making news in Illinois today:

  • 5. The Chicago Teachers Union is accusing Chicago Public Schools of looking for loopholes to avoid their five-year commitment of not closing any schools. (Chicago Sun-Times)
    4. Opinion: The tax situation in Illinois is hurting small, local businesses. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
    3. Senate President John Cullerton is trying to build support for a pension plan proposed to save $138 billion over the next 30 years. (State Journal-Register)
    2. Pat Quinn has filed an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse the ruling that his suspension of lawmakers’ pay was unconstitutional. (Associated Press)
    1. A tax-break bill aimed to keep agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland’s headquarters in Illinois is in trouble in Springfield. (Crain’s Chicago Business

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