Politics & Government

State Sen. Bill Cunningham: Quinn's Salary Veto Sets 'Dangerous Precedent'

Illinois State Senator Bill Cunningham said the General Assembly hasn't produced a solid pension solution, but Governor Pat Quinn halting salaries could set a precedent where future disagreements in Springfield are met with similar actions.

By Ben Feldheim

Bill Cunningham doesn’t have a problem admitting that the Illinois General Assembly has failed to produce anything of substance with regard to pension reform.

But the 18th district state senator thinks Gov. Pat Quinn’s salary veto, halting pay for legislators after missing deadlines he set to resolve the pension crisis, will put Springfield on an even more slippery slope than usual. 

“From a political standpoint it’s probably a pretty good move by him,” Cunningham said. “But from a government standpoint it sets up a dangerous precedent, as is pointed out in the lawsuit. Future governors, or this governor if he gets re-elected, could threaten to hold pay on any issue if he or she disagrees with the General Assembly. And vice versa you could have the GA cut the governor’s pay because of a disagreement there.”

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Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and state Senate President John Cullerton responded with a lawsuit against Quinn, declaring the compensation hold unconstitutional.

Cunningham said legislators could have easily overridden the line-item veto, but felt the matter was better settled in court.

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“To jump in and say that this kind of gambit by the governor or any branch of government that tries to hold pay hostage violates the state constitution should avoid this situation in the future,” Cunningham said. “If not, maybe it happens on abortion, or a proposed tax increase, concealed carry bills. The idea behind the lawsuit is that an extra step has to be taken to address this manner from a constitutional standpoint.”

Cunningham said the veto, which he described as no more than a re-election ploy, is obscuring headway made by the pension reform committee.

“(State Senator) Daniel Biss and (State Rep) Mike Zalewski both indicated to me that a lot of progress has been made, and likely by mid-August the committee will recommend a bill to the entire General Assembly,” Cunningham said. “They feel headway is being made despite the governor’s action and not because of it. And he isn’t engaged with the committee and doing the work. He’s issuing releases and holding press conferences.”

According to Cunningham, a new direction headed in pension reform talks involves a plan not proposed by either Cullerton or Madigan. Rather, the committee is working on a plan drawing from a six-step proposal from University of Illinois and Northern Illinois University faculty to achieve a compromise of Madigan’s and Cullerton’s plans, Cunningham said.

The relationship between Quinn and state lawmakers has reached such a tenuous state that Cunningham doesn’t think the salary veto will affect it too much.

“The governor doesn’t have a good working relationship with General Assembly to begin with,” Cunningham said. “In that respect maybe this move won’t do a ton of damage. It would be difficult for the relationship to get worse.”


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