The spring session of the Illinois legislature wrapped up on Friday without a deal to remedy the $100 billion retirement fund shortfall and the worst pension crisis in the country, reports the Associated Press.
Both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats but they were still unable to find a solution. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn had said that fixing the pensions was the number one priority for the legislative session.
"I will not stop fighting until pension reform is the law of the land," Quinn told the Associated Press. "But...I cannot act alone."
A bill penned by House Speaker Michael Madigan was defeated soundly by a vote of 16-42 in the Senate. Senate President John Cullerton called the bill unconstitutional on the Senate floor in part because the bill raised the retirement age, scaled back cost of living increases and limited the size of salary that could count toward a pension, according to the Chicago Tribune.
An irate House Republican leader Tom Cross spoke to the Chicago Tribune about the miserable situation the state is in shortly before the Senate voted on the Madigan bill.
"All of our energy in whatever role we have should be devoted to making sure a real pension bill, a real pension bill, ends up on the governor's desk," Cross said. "We're going to be adjourning, and it's very possible we don't do real, substantive, positive pension reform...Welcome to our mess."
As the legislature adjourned Republican Sen. Matt Murphy was flabbergasted that the Democratic legislature that had a veto proof majority in both houses was unable to reach a deal, calling it a "stunning indictment of your failure of leadership," according to the Associated Press.
"Your failure to deliver on the biggest issue facing this state is shameful, and I hope the people of this state are paying attention," Murphy said.
If the Legislature doesn't act to resolve the pension crisis it is estimated that by 2016 the pension payments for Illinois will exceed the amount spend on education, according to the Associated Press.
The pension deal wasn't the only major legislation that failed to pass on the last day of the session. A measure that would have legalized same-sex marriage couldn't receive enough support in the House to be called to a vote.
