NIU Today

A number of bills were introduced within the last two weeks related to pension reform, primarily in response to recent stories by the Chicago Tribune and Fox News. These bills are intended to close “loopholes” that have allowed the type of lucrative pension benefits that have been highlighted by the media. With the fall veto...

Northern Illinois University has launched yourpension.niu.edu, a website designed specifically to help employees stay informed on the debate in Springfield regarding employee pensions. “There are few issues with potentially greater consequences, and we want to ensure that employees, annuitants and others have easy access to the most up-to-date information and resources to help them understand...

In Springfield … The first week of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, and will run through Thursday, Oct. 27. It promises to be an interesting week, with many issues on the table. The House of Representatives Personnel and Pensions Committee has posted five pension reform bills for hearing –...

In Washington, D.C. … Last week, the Senate rejected, by a vote of 50-49, President Obama’s jobs bill and the Senate Democrats are now working with the president to disassemble the $447 billion package into smaller bills that will deal with specific elements contained in the jobs bill. The Democrats will try to force the...

In Springfield … Fall Veto Session begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, and we are seeing public statements by various elected officials on items they hope will be addressed during the six days of this session. Gov. Pat Quinn, who used his amendatory veto on House Bill 1353, is hoping that the General Assembly will not override...

With the Illinois General Assembly’s Fall Veto Session less than a month away, look for the issue of state employee pension plans to start creeping back into the headlines, says Steve Cunningham, NIU vice president for Administration and Human Resources. The topic dominated much of the discussion at the end of the spring legislative session,...

In Washington, D.C. … All eyes in Washington are focused on the activities of the Deficit Reduction Super Committee, which is under a very tight deadline to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in spending cuts before Thanksgiving or face mandatory reductions in all areas of federal spending. President Obama and House Speaker John...

In Springfield … Gov. Pat Quinn today signed Senate Bill 2185, known as the Illinois DREAM Act (now Public Act 97-0233). This act is intended to make college more affordable for undocumented immigrants. It allows anyone with a Social Security number to enroll in a state-administered college savings program. It also establishes an Illinois DREAM Fund Commission...

Mike Fortner, a professor in the NIU Department of Physics and a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, is the focus of a chicagonews cooperative piece on the lawsuit filed by Illinois GOP challenging the new legislative map. “It Can Take a Scientist to Help Understand Redistricting,” reported by Kristen McQueary, also appeared...

In Springfield … Illinois House and Senate Republicans filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday, July 20, seeking to invalidate the redistricting maps approved this Spring by the Illinois General Assembly on the grounds that the maps: Violate the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 because African-Americans and Latinos have not been provided a “fair...

In Springfield… Governor Pat Quinn, in the last hours of the state fiscal year, used his amendatory veto powers to cut $336 million from the FY 2012 appropriations sent to him by the General Assembly.  The majority of the cuts ($276 million) will be to Medicaid, with $90 million cut from the school bus program...

In Springfield … The Illinois General Assembly convened for one day Wednesday, June 22, to handle some matters left over from the spring session, most notably the passage of the FY2012 capital bill (SB 2414). The Senate amendment added in the last days of session was removed, and the bill was sent Thursday, June 23, to Gov. Quinn....