Quinn leads way on fiscal reform
Mr. Eden Martin’s column Thursday, “Gov. Quinn’s union deal adds to our woes,” was notable for its glaring omission of key facts.
Mr. Martin says that Gov. Pat Quinn’s agreement with AFSCME, after 15 months of negotiation, makes our financial challenges worse. False. The governor secured the best contract for taxpayers in Illinois’ history of collective bargaining.
Curiously, Mr. Martin ignores that this agreement will save taxpayers more than $900 million in healthcare costs, reducing the state’s group health expenses by almost 20 percent.
If there was simply no contract — as Mr. Martin suggests — there would be no health-care savings, as labor law requires health care to be negotiated. The governor has a responsibility to reach an agreement that’s fair to taxpayers and employees who provide vital state services. This contract also includes the lowest cost-ofliving adjustments in state history. In Iowa and Ohio, administrations agreed to flat COLAs but did not secure increases in contributions to health insurance. Health insurance inflation rises at a much higher rate than wage inflation. Illinois got the better deal.
But perhaps the most inconvenient truth for Mr. Martin is that no Illinois governor has enacted more difficult fiscal reforms than Pat Quinn.
Inheriting decades of mismanagement, Gov. Quinn reduced discretionary spending more than any other governor and cut his own office budget by more than 25 percent. He closed 54 state facilities to save taxpayers $100 million a year. He restructured Medicaid to reduce the liability by more than $2 billion. And he signed into law pension reform for new employees that will save billions of dollars over future years.
Comprehensive pension reform for current employees is next. Lawmakers must send him a bill to get this job done. The governor stands ready to sign pension reform today and will continue working relentlessly until it is the law of the land.
Brooke Anderson, press secretary, Gov. Pat Quinn