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Lawmaker Doesn't Like Pension Proposal
If a local state lawmaker has his way, a proposal to change the way teachers pensions are funded won't get any traction at all.

State Representative Don Moffitt says, though, Governor Pat Quinn's idea to shift the burden of funding pensions to local school districts is out there, and should get plenty of healthy debate during the legislation session in Springfield he goes back to starting Tuesday.

Moffitt tells the WGIL Morning News Monday school districts can't be blamed for the current pension mess.

"We talked to people that made their retirement decisions based on what they paid in, and what they were told their benefits would be, and to change that is just not right, it's unfair," he said. "It's a problem not created by annuitants, it's a problem created by the state."

Moffitt says there have been some other ideas floated, like taxing upper-level pensions, changing the benefits of current retirees, and possibly altering those just starting out, therefore just getting into the pension system.

Galesburg School District officials strongly oppose the idea of footing the pension bills -- saying it would lead to a lot of layoffs, or a significant rise in property taxes.
02 27 12 by Newsroom
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