Every day, we protect the future of our city. Now it’s time to make our legislators protect our futures. The House could vote on Senate Bill 512, legislation that would diminish your hard-earned pension benefits. Details about this dangerous bill are slowly beginning to emerge in the media, and the threat is very real. PLEASE ACT NOW!
UPDATE—The next time that SB 512 is scheduled to be heard is Tuesday, May 24 at 11:00 a.m.
Even if you have contacted your lawmakers previously about pensions, it is critical that you make your voice heard about Senate Bill 512. This bill could be passed with as little as one vote. Your call could save your pension and the pensions of your CTU Sisters and Brothers.
Here’s what you must do NOW to stop this bill:
- E-mail lawmakers using a pre-written message on the IFT website: www.ift-aft.org.
- Call 888-412-6570 to be immediately connected to your lawmakers by phone.
- Sign up for text alerts at www.weareoneillinois.org.
- “Like” the CTU Facebook page to receive daily updates about pension action in Springfield.
- Share this message with your coworkers, friends, community members and family and ask them to contact their lawmakers, too.
If this legislation passes it will likely offer three choices for participation in the plans going forward (all benefits earned to date would be unaffected):
Option 1: Stay in the current tier 1 plan but pay 50% or more in contributions.
Option 2: Go into a tier 2 plan for new hires that puts retirement age at 67, lowers benefits and decimates annual Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA), or
Option 3: Go into a 401k defined contribution plan that freezes current pension credits and relies on the volatile stock market.
You dedicated yourself to improving the quality of life and providing a brighter future for all. In return, the state promised to provide you with a modest pension after a lifetime of public service.
You have faithfully paid into the pension system and kept your promise to serve. But now some lawmakers in Springfield want to break their promise. They are attacking your hard-earned pension and trying to diminish your benefits, even though legal experts have called it unconstitutional.
We can win this fight, but we need your help! Please contact your lawmakers now to insist they vote “NO” on SB 512, the pension benefit reduction legislation. Then urge your co-workers, family, friends and neighbors to do the same.
Your hard-earned pension benefits are on the line. There is no time to waste. ACT NOW!
