General Assembly ends session without voting on Tier 2 improvements

The General Assembly concluded its lame duck session on Jan. 7 without voting on a union-backed bill that would implement essential improvements to Tier 2 pensions, with AFSCME and our allies in the We Are One Illinois coalition vowing to carry the fight forward into the spring legislative session. 

AFSCME members highlighted the unfairness of Tier 2 pensions through a year-long campaign of direct action. Public employees sent tens of thousands of emails to their state legislators in the spring. Hundreds more attended regional town hall meetings throughout the summer where they delivered powerful personal accounts of how Tier 2 has affected their families and hampered recruitment at their workplaces.

And on Nov. 13, some 3,000 union members packed the state Capitol for one of the largest rallies the building has ever seen.

On the day of the rally, the We Are One coalition introduced the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Kifowit in the House and Sen. Robert Martwick in the Senate, would make major improvements to Tier 2 pensions, including lowering the retirement age, increasing cost-of-living adjustments and improving the final average salary calculation to increase retirees’ benefits.

Some lawmakers supported the bill, but others attempted to bury it, citing a potentially large state budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

One thing is clear: AFSCME members and our allies in the We Are One Illinois coalition brought the issue of unfair Tier 2 pensions back to the forefront. Our action forced lawmakers to confront the many ways Tier 2 is harming public employees’ retirement security and hampering recruitment for the public services we provide. 

But the fight isn’t over, and the coalition is carrying the momentum it’s generated forward. We Are One is planning to reintroduce the bill in the spring legislative session. Every union in the coalition will continue to build support for the bill, and to identify and advance the needed revenue measures to accompany pension improvements.