Arguments in Illinois Pension Lawsuit Begin Wednesday

It’s been nearly 15 months since Illinois’ pension overhaul was passed, and 13 months since the first lawsuits began rolling in.

Now, the state and its public workers are finally squaring off in the halls of the state Supreme Court.

Arguments over the constitutionality of the law, SB-1, begin on Wednesday.

From the Chicago Tribune:

More than a year of legal wrangling over Illinois’ attempt to curb benefits in the nation’s most underfunded pension system will come down to 50 minutes of courtroom debate Wednesday…

Lawyers for public workers and retirees argue the law violates what’s known as the “pension protection clause” of the Illinois Constitution, which holds that public pensions are a “contractual” benefit and cannot “be diminished or impaired.”

But lawyers for the state argue that the government’s emergency police powers — in this case the ability to fund necessary government services — trump the constitution’s pension guarantees.

The arguments are scheduled to begin at 2:30 pm.

Audio and video of the arguments will be available in the coming days, and can be found here.