UPDATE [3:30 PM CST]: The arguments have concluded, but you can still watch the full proceedings by clicking the video above, or by clicking here.
The action begins at around the 15:00 mark of the video.
Tag: Illinois pension lawsuit
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.
Illinois Supreme Court Schedules Oral Arguments in Pension Suit
The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Thursday a specific date and time for oral arguments in the state’s high-profile pension lawsuit.
The arguments will be held on March 11 at 2:30 pm, CST, according to the Associated Press.
Unions, retirees and retiree groups are suing the state over a pension overhaul passed in late 2013. The law cuts benefits for many public workers, who are suing the state over the constitutionality of the law.
Read more Pension360 coverage of the lawsuit here.
Illinois Unions Challenging Reform Law Ask Supreme Court to Slow Down
When the lawsuit against Illinois’ pension reform law went to the Supreme Court, the Court obliged the state’s request for an expedited process.
The state, win or lose, wants the court’s decision as soon as possible.
But unions and public employees fighting the law are now asking the court to slow down the process. They say they need more time to respond to arguments presented in briefs filed by nearly a dozen groups in support of the law last week.
From Northern Public Radio:
Unions and others fighting to prevent Illinois’ pension law from taking effect are asking the state Supreme Court to ease up on its accelerated timeline.A Sangamon County judge ruled the measure unconstitutional. But Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed paperwork earlier this month that says the state can use “police powers” to cut pensions.
Ten other groups filed briefs backing Madigan’s position.
John Fitzgerald is an attorney who represents retired public school teachers. He says lawyers need more time to respond to all of those additional arguments.
Fitzgerald says his side is still confident reducing benefits is illegal.
“Although we believe that the arguments raised by the amici need to be evaluated and responded to, we do not believe that any of those arguments have any merit; we do not believe that the amici have raised any arguments that should change the outcome of this case.”
The lawyers are asking for an additional month to file briefs with the court. Currently, the briefs are due Feb. 16.
State Lawyers File Arguments in Illinois Pension Lawsuit
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed the state’s argument in favor of the sweeping pension law on Monday. Illinois is arguing that pension protections are not absolute, and the law doesn’t violate the state’s constitution.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Lawyers for the state argued that the government’s so-called emergency police powers — the ability to take action to ensure the functions of government — trump the protections of the pension clause.
State lawyers said the ability to fund necessary government services, as well as to continue paying out pensions, has been severely hampered by paying an increasing amount of the state’s checking account to fund the pension systems.
“According to the circuit court’s holding, for example, faced with an epidemic requiring the state to purchase and distribute vaccines or other costly medication, the state could not even temporarily reduce pension benefits to cover those costs,” lawyers for the state argued.
“Nor, in a period of prolonged deflation … could the state reduce pension benefits even if the corresponding rise in benefits caused by 3 percent annually compounded COLAs caused every dollar of state revenue to be spent on pension benefits,” the state filing said.
Meanwhile, business leaders and legal experts who support Illinois’ pension reform law also filed briefs with the Supreme Court Monday arguing in favor of the constitutionality of the law.
Nine briefs were filed in total in support of the state, including one from the city of Chicago.
More from Reuters:
Illinois is getting support from its biggest city, business leaders and legal experts in its quest to defend the constitutionality of a 2013 law aimed at easing the state’s huge public pension burden.
The city of Chicago, social service providers and professors specializing in constitutional and contract law were among the parties that filed nine so-called amicus briefs with the Illinois Supreme Court by a Monday deadline.
The briefs backed the state’s appeal of a Nov. 21 court ruling that found the 2013 law violated a provision in the Illinois Constitution preventing retirement benefits for public workers from being impaired or diminished.
[…]
Illinois says it is required to maintain its sovereignty by the U.S. Constitution and that its police powers allow it to reduce retirement benefits to deal with the state’s fiscal emergency. Those arguments were echoed in briefs filed on Monday by legal experts and business group the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Chicago contended in its support brief that its efforts to rein in pension costs would be threatened if the court were to reject the state’s police powers argument.
The city, which is defending a 2014 law aimed at boosting funding for two of its four retirement systems from a union-backed constitutional challenge in Cook County Circuit Court, said it has a vital interest in the state’s case.
“Failure to achieve reform for the Chicago funds would have a devastating impact on Chicago’s economy and its delivery of essential services, as well as on the retirement security of current and former employees,” Chicago’s filing stated.
The Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school system, also backed the state’s position, as did Chicago’s transit authority and park district.
Illinois is shouldering over $100 billion of unfunded pension liabilities. The state has the worst credit rating of any state in the country.
Video: Update on Illinois Pension Lawsuit
Here’s a discussion with attorney Aaron Maduff, who is representing the State Universities Annuitants Association in their lawsuit against Illinois’ pension reform law. Maduff gives us a recap and update on the high-profile pension lawsuit, and an idea of what we can expect in the coming months.