Eloquence & Justifiable Anger:
From Roger Sanders on the Eve of Possible Pension Reform Vote
WHAT I HAVE SENT
TO LEGISLATORS
We find ourselves in a peculiar situation. Every year, every
teacher has paid their required contribution to their pension. For 60
years Illinois has failed to pay its share into the teacher retirement
system. Consequently, legislators and governors have shortchanged our
pensions billions of dollars.
Now we find ourselves faced with the untenable prospect of today’s
legislators and governor cutting the very retirement benefits for which every
teacher has dutifully worked and paid for. By our very nature, as
teachers, we have a great sense of fairness, loyalty, respect for authority and
an innate sense of caring, a drive to protect others from harm. We became
teachers fore altruistic reasons. These beliefs are central to how we
structure our lives, our classrooms, our schools, and the commitment we have to
our students and communities.
We do not seek conflict. Rather, we seek solutions. We
strive to be well informed and expect that rational thinking and compassion for
others are important elements in finding solutions to problems. We also
expect fair play and abiding by the law to be essential.
Legislators and the governor would have us believe that state
pensions are the primary reason our state budget is in such dire
straights. We all know this is untrue. To suggest this is the case
is insulting to any informed citizen.
Of the state’s contribution to the Teacher Retirement System this
year, only 18% is for the “normal cost” of retirement benefits for current
teachers. In other words, 82% of the state’s pension payment today is to
pay off the debt owed the system. Since 1939, TRS has never received a full
actuarial contribution from the General Assembly. (Source: Teacher
Retirement System)
The real problem is that legislators over the years have not lived
within their means, and even in the most recent dire economic times, have
continued to spend, spend, spend. They have used the pension systems as a
credit card to fund other things. They have placed a culture of
corruption and collusion and political cronies above the welfare of the
citizens of the state.
With the largest tax increase in the state’s history, we still have
billions in unpaid bills and vendors waiting months for payment of
services. At the same time, the legislature continues to appropriate for
new programs and give multi-million dollar tax breaks to corporations under the
guise of “job creation.” The last time I looked, jobs are still down and
we continue to squander resources through corporate welfare. A perfect
example is the proposed $24 million tax break for ADM that is rumored to be
approved hot on the heals of pension cuts to retirees. The top seven
executives compensation at ADM last year was $31,655,517. Do legislators
expect me to take a cut as a retiree and feel good about it when those CEO
salaries are so high? Really? Not likely. The General Assembly
and One-Term Quinn awarded a $100 million tax break to Motorola Solutions when
the CEO’s compensation was $40 million. Legislators might like to know
that Caterpillar CEO Douglas Oberhelman’s compensation last year was
$17,738,076 plus, amazingly, a lump sum pension payment of $16,943,243.
Lump sum pension payments due the CEOs of Caterpillar, Boeing,
Abbot-Laboratories and Crown Holdings were $129,939,430. (Source:
SEC proxy)
The General Assembly just appropriated $70 million to purchase land
for a Peotone airport. Hardly a critical need given the fact that not one
airline has yet voiced support for it. I guess the Rockford airport must
be a full capacity. Unlikely. Of course there is the $900,000
buyout cost for METRA CEO because he wouldn’t bend to Speaker Madigan’s wishes,
or the $600,000 for doors at the Capitol.
And the list goes on, and on, and on.
There will be a tipping point. Perhaps this is it. As
for myself, I have voted in every election for the past 44 years. I’m a
lifelong Illinois resident whose family has been in Illinois for 150
years. I’ve been an educator in Illinois for 42 years. My father
taught school in Illinois for 53 years. We have been invested in
Illinois, and I expect Illinois to invest in my retirement as well.
Can legislators and the governor just disregard the very people that
have served their communities and not expect some type of repercussion?
Are we to learn that fairness, loyalty, and respect for the law are to be
discarded? If that is the case we will find ourselves in a place we do
not want to be.
I urge you to vote NO on the proposed pension cuts.
MY PENSION DOES NOT NEED TO BE REFORMED, IT NEEDS TO BE HONORED.
Nice meeting you in person.
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