Ill. House Passes Cap on Automatic Pension Increases

Very, very modest reforms, but reforms nevertheless

The Illinois House on Thursday voted to drastically limit automatic inflation increases for public pensions, a measure that supporters said could bring $100 billion in savings to the nation's worst funded pension system over 30 years.

Passage of the proposal is the biggest step Illinois has taken toward reining in huge and growing payments to retired teachers and state workers. It was passed by a vote of 66 to 50 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. It would then need the signature of Governor Pat Quinn to become law.

Under the bill, retired workers would get a 3 percent annual automatic increase only on the first $25,000 of a pension. Any amount above $25,000 would not be adjusted for inflation.