LETTER FROM AFFI LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AND AFFI PRESIDENT DEVANEY
Throughout this year’s session of the Illinois General Assembly, the AFFI has made it clear that we will negotiate seriously for long-lasting and meaningful pension reform.
Toward that end we worked hard and in good faith with dozens of Illinois legislators who share our desire to enact reliable pension reforms for those of us entrusted with the public’s safety. In a spirit of cooperation, the AFFI developed a proposal to cap property tax increases at 10 percent for 2010.
The AFFI’s proposal asked for nothing in return except for a good-faith commitment from the municipal groups to negotiate for long-term stability for firefighters as well as the taxpayers we serve. Along every step of the process, the AFFI made it clear we are willing to negotiate reforms but only if local governments are willing to address the defects that got us into pension underfunding in the first place.
Unfortunately, the Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC) insisted right up to the end of this week’s veto session to push for either a 40-year extension of the amortization period or a multiple year contribution limitation that would drastically increase the unfunded liability in our plans. Neither proposal submitted by the NWMC included any reform measures to address the root cause of our funding issues – responsible long term funding practices.
The headstrong insistence by the NWMC may well have scuttled the efforts of well-meaning legislators to solve, once and for all, the pension shortfalls and funding issues that face almost all Illinois local governments.
Even The Daily Herald, the local newspaper for the NWMC communities, commended our efforts to cap property tax increases during this period of economic uncertainty and budget tightening. Wrote The Daily Herald in an editorial published October 24:
“This is reasonable, even for those of us who normally oppose government postponements of financial obligations.”
It would not be fair for us to assume the motives of the NWMC. However, we suspect that at least some of its members would have a hard time hiding their glee at the possibility of breaking up public employee local bargaining units.
This is unfortunate because the AFFI, as well as our counterparts in law enforcement, have publicly recognized our willingness to share the sacrifices it will take to bring us out of this national economic crisis.
Your AFFI legislative committee stands ready to negotiate on the shortest conceivable notice any reasonable attempts to reform firefighters’ pensions as prescribed by Illinois statutes. Furthermore, we are confident our commitment is shared by members of the Illinois General Assembly.
It remains our sincere hope that some hard-line local government officials will ultimately awake to reason and join us.
