NEWS
Legislative News
The General Assembly will reconvene for "lame duck" session on January 3rd. Nearly three dozen lawmakers will be leaving the General Assembly and some political insiders believe that in these last few days of the 97th Illinois General Assembly legislators will try to pass pension reform legislation. The IRTA is encouraging our members to take the time prior to January 3rd to meet with your legislators in their district offices. If possible, invite other retirees to attend the meeting with you.
You must continue to tell your story and stress the importance of your annual three percent compounded COLA.
Beyond legal interpretation, there is a simple and straightforward argument that supports public pensions and the retiree benefits they contain: promises made should be promises kept.
For several years the General Assembly has wrestled with proposals to change public employee pensions in Illinois. The pensions of retired teachers and other public pension retirees are protected by the state constitution. The authors of our State Constitution understood that retirees should be a protected class and that the rug should never be pulled out from under them.
Donate to the IRTA Legal Defense Fund
Greetings from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association. While we won a battle on May 31 to prevent the House from passing the pension "reform" legislation, the war is still on as legislative leaders and the Governor promised to try again --- SOON! They want to solve the state's budget woes with your money, and they blame you. They offered you a coerced choice to give up your COLA for access to an unguaranteed health insurance plan.
We must prepare for the possibility that one of these attacks may succeed. For that reason IRTA has launched the IRTA Legal Defense Fund. Please watch this video for an explanation and then forward it to your contacts and members. We must reach ALL members to build a large legal defense fund. Click below to watch the YouTube video.
Watch Legal Defense Fund Explanation - Click Here
Here is the address for sending donations to the Legal Defense Fund.
IRTA, 620 N. Walnut St., Springfield, IL 62702
Please write "Legal Defense Fund" on the check memo line.
