Rauner Unveils Budget Proposal, Calls For Pension Reform
Governor Bruce Rauner unveiled his budget proposal Wednesday in a speech to the legislature in Springfield. Rauner’s proposal calls for pension reform, and would shift the burden of paying pensions for state-funded entities like schools to the entity itself. The governor also said he wants to reel in group healthcare expenses. Rauner claims that these, along with other proposals and spending cuts, will allow the state to then roll back last year’s income tax increase. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle criticized the speech, along with many community groups and labor unions that would be impacted by these changes. “He wants to solve the pension debt problem on the back of property taxpayers,” said Sen. Daniel Biss, who is one of several Democrats vying for the nomination to challenge Rauner in the next election. “Moving the dollars from one payer to another is really not reforming anything in my opinion,” said Representative Tony McCombie, a Republican. (WGN)