Cullerton Backs Possible Pension Compromise

The president of the Illinois Senate says he's backing a compromise pension reform plan that could save $138 billion by 2043.  
Chicago Democrat John Cullerton tells The (Springfield) State Journal-Register (http://bit.ly/1btBYG2 ) that he's working to build support for the still-unfinished proposal being developed by a pension reform committee. Cullerton hopes lawmakers can begin to act on the plan during the upcoming Oct. 22 veto session.  
The 10-member panel was formed this summer after lawmakers reached a stalemate on competing House and Senate pension plans. Cullerton had expressed concerns this spring over a plan supported by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. It would have saved the state $163 billion.  
He called the committee's proposal ``less unconstitutional'' than the Madigan-backed plan.  
Illinois faces an unfunded pension liability of about $100 billion.