McCarter Weighs In On Pension Reform; Legislative Salary Freeze

State Senator Kyle McCarter has weighed in on the battle for pension reform in Illinois and Governor Pat Quinn move to withhold legislators' pay until they come up with a solution.

This is Senator McCarter's statement:

“I share the Governor’s frustration with the lack of real public pension reform.  I’ve introduced several proposals, which have languished because of a very politically-controlled legislative process but I don’t see how this stunt is going to contribute to an environment of cooperation and compromise.   He obviously did not read the book, ‘How to win friends and influence people.’  Legitimate reform must be fair and affordable for taxpayers and public employees alike. The underfunding crisis (estimated at $100 billion) threatens to undermine the state’s ability to fund critical services such as education and public safety, it also posses huge tax burdens on generations of Illinoisans and it puts the pension systems in jeopardy of financial collapse.  True reform must also hold the Legislature accountable for making future pension payments that they failed to make in the past so the pension funds are sustainable.  I agree, we must do something as soon as possible.  However, this attempt to threaten the General Assembly is Blagovich-like behavior, and we know how that turned out.”