Governor Calls For Special Legislative Session

Springfield - Gov. Pat Quinn (D) waited patiently for lawmakers to voluntarily meet to fix the state's pension system. Now, he's taking matters into his hands.

He called for a special session of the General Assembly Aug. 17.  House Speaker Michael Madigan said last week he considered calling for a vote, while the Senate made no plans to reconvene.  Suburban Chicago and downstate school districts currently don't pay for their own pension costs and Quinn says that needs to change.  "We can thread this needle" Quinn said during a press conference.  "We can do it in a way that's constitutional and responsible.  [I] really look forward to rolling up our sleeves.  After two months of study, we're just about finished with July,  we've been studying and analyzing this issue looking at numbers galore.  But, now it's time for action."

The pension system is bleeding $12 million per day.  Overall, it has more than $80 billion the state can't afford to pay.