Lawmakers across Illinois, including Aurora Democratic State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, are working on drafting legislation for the spring legislative session coming up in January. Kifowit says she has received ideas from constituents on pressing topics like pension reform and property tax relief.
Kifowit says a proposal on reforming the tier two pension system, which has been in place since 2011, is needed to comply with federal guidelines. The General Assembly did not take action on pension reform during the fall veto session in October. Kifowit says without an effective pension plan in place, the state has started to see less retention and recruitment success in key areas like law enforcement and education.
“We also need to recognize that we, the state as a whole, is having a huge, huge retention and recruitment issue for key positions. Whether it’s teachers, whether it’s correctional officers, even state police, anybody that works for the state. We’re having a huge crisis getting good people, and part of the reason is because our neighboring states have a better pension plan than we do. And the private sector has a better retirement plan with Social Security and a 401k than we do.”…