Gov. Pat Quinn addresses 8th graders at Percy Julian Middle School in Oak Park. (Credit: CBS)
Reporting Craig Dellimore
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OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) — Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday took the case for pension and Medicaid reform to an Oak Park middle school.
As WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, Quinn came to Percy Julian Middle School, 416 S. Ridgeland Ave., to take questions on pensions and Medicaid reform from an 8th grade social studies class.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports
Quinn admits these are not typical topics for students so young, but he says they are important.
“For young people, we don’t want a situation where retirement investment and pension investment is so expansive that it crowds out investment in the next generation, and so that’s sort of what the debate is now in Springfield,” Quinn said.
The governor says he expects agreement on pension reform within days, and he is hoping the momentum will carry it forward.
Under the new plan, employee contributions will rise 3 percent, cost-of-living adjustments will be modestly reduced, and increase the retirement age to 67 in a new rule to be phased in over the next several years. The plan will also limit public pensions to those who actually work in the public sector.
The program will also establish a 30-year “closed” actuarially-required contribution schedule to create a stricter system for funding.
Currently, the state pension systems are underfunded by $83 billion.
