|
By DOUG WILSON Herald-Whig Senior Writer David From gave what he called a greatly shortened version of hiscomplaints about Illinois government as one of the speakers atTuesday night's meeting of the Quincy Tea Party. From, the Illinois state director of Americans for Prosperity, saidhis organization is concerned that lawmakers left town withoutcompleting work on the $85 billion unfunded pension liabilityproblem. He said leaving the work undone could trigger lower bondratings that would force higher borrowing rates for the state,which will have to be paid with taxpayers' dollars. "I think it was disgusting and very disheartening to see how itfell apart last week," From said. For the past few months lawmakers had worked on a package ofpension reforms designed to save tax dollars while meeting stateobligations. Talks fell apart when "partisanship boiled over," Fromsaid. Although Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders are meetingWednesday to discuss a way forward for pension reform, From saidthe issue should have been settled during the regular session sothat a special session would not be necessary. "They left town before they completed the job," From said. Americans for Prosperity was described by From as a grass-rootsorganization committed to economic freedom, less governmentregulation, less taxation and less wasteful spending. He said AFPhas chapters in 36 states and has more than two million members. InIllinois, he said AFP has about 60,000 members and supporters. Kristina Rasmussen of the Illinois Policy Institute spoke at theQuincy meeting along with From. The IPI has outlined an alternativebudget designed to assure that the income tax hike approved inJanuary 2011 will be temporary. From said Americans for Prosperity focuses on advocacy, while theIPI is geared more toward promoting specific policies. He said bothgroups see the need to fix the state's financial crisis. A large number of legislators appear to favor a change in Illinoispension procedures that would cap annual cost of living allowancesat 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.However, the bill did not come up for a vote during the final weekof the legislative session as Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago,withdrew his support over plans to drop a shift of pension paymentsfor teachers from the state to school districts. From said the AFP has not promoted any specific plan, but it doesnot oppose the cost shift to schools. "If it's done responsibly it would be a more appropriate alignmentof pension responsibilities," From said. Schools throughout the state might then be forced to raise propertytaxes, but From said it would give voters a chance to demandgreater accountability from school boards. Americans for Prosperity of Illinois took a pair of buses toWisconsin last weekend as a show of support for Gov. Scott Walker,a Republican facing a recall election this week. From said Walker'sreforms have cut spending and helped balance the Wisconsin budget.That has led to opposition from Democrats and public worker unions. "They did this in Wisconsin without laying off any workers. We wantto see those same kinds of reforms in Illinois," From said. -- dwilson@whig.com/221-3372. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Titanium Welding Wire , Zirconium Crystal for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Titanium Rod.
Related Articles -
Titanium Welding Wire, Zirconium Crystal,
|
