Illinois Democrats (or at least many of them) say Illinois needs a progressive income tax. Illinois Republicans (all three of them) say Illinois needs real pension reform. Both of these ideas require an amendment to the Illinois Constitution to be approved. So here is my Monty Hall-“Let’s Make a Deal” suggestion.
Instead of just one constitutional amendment, we pass two. (The Illinois Supreme Court would never let you bundle the ideas together.) One of them would permit a progressive income tax. The other would allow the state legislature to adjust future pension accruals of current state employees. I am not talking about cutting pension benefits already earned. I am just suggesting that the legislature should have the right to adjust, i.e., reduce, pension benefits that current state employees earn in the future. (The current state constitution provides that, once a person is hired, their pension scheme can never be reduced in the future, no matter how far they are from retirement.)
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