The U.S. Supreme Court will NOT get the last word on Illinois' attempts to cut government pension costs.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office said Wednesday that it has decided not to ask the nation's high court to review the matter.
Facing a deadline earlier this summer, the attorney general had asked for more time to decide whether she'd pursue an appeal.
"We asked for what is really a very routine extension; with all the other issues ongoing, more pressing we are going to take our time to look thoroughly at all of the pros and cons of asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case."
Illinois' 20-13 pension law was tossed by the Illinois Supreme Court ... which found that it defies a provision in the constitution protecting government retirement benefits.
Years of underfunding ... coupled with stock losses during the recession ... mean Illinois has more than 100 billion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities.
Republican lawmakers are pitching a new idea they say would make a small dent in Illinois' worst-in-the-nation pension debt.
Rep. Mark Batinick wants the Illinois House to hold hearings on a plan to offer employees nearing retirement a lump sum payment for a portion of their pension benefits, rather than an annuity.
Batinick says the ``exchange option'' won't solve Illinois' $111 billion pension crisis. But, he says it would ``move it in the right direction.''
Steve Brown, spokesman for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, declined to comment because he hasn't seen the proposal.
