Illinois Legislative Committee Nearing Pension Compromise

A member of the Illinois legislature's special committee on pensions says the group is closing in on a compromise. It remains to be seen whether the measure will have enough support in the full General Assembly.

The 10-members of the bipartisan conference committee have been meeting for more than a month.

A good chunk of that time has been waiting for actuaries to analyze the various proposals -- seeing how much of Illinois' nearly $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities might be eliminated.

"We sent a -- hopefully -- a final round of scoring back to the actuaries to come up with some solution," said State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).

Brady said there has been "a great deal of compromise" among his fellow pension committee members.

"I'm hopeful that our work and effort will bring the conference committee to a consensus resolution, and then we can employ the legislative leaders to help us pass a bill," he added.

Brady said he has not heard from Gov. Pat Quinn -- or anyone on the governor's staff -- since Quinn vetoed lawmakers' salaries as punishment for not passing pension legislation.