Quinn: I have to repair the damage

Gov. Pat Quinn didn't say much about the 19-count indictment against his predecessor Thursday, other than that it was "serious" and "sad" and that Rod Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court.

Instead, he vowed to work "day and night" to reform Illinois government and restore the integrity of the governor's office.

"The process of overhauling, fumigating, government is an ongoing one," said Quinn, who took the helm nine weeks ago, following Blagojevich's arrest. "My job is to repair the damage. I'm prepared to do whatever is necessary to clean up government."

Among the ways he plans to do this, he said, is with a public-pension reform bill, which he promised to detail on Friday.

Basically, Quinn said his bill would clearly spell out the job of the pension fund's board of trustees. It also would give the governor the authority to review all trustee appointments and determine whether each individual should continue to hold that post.

Various pension boards, most notably that overseeing teachers' retirement money, were embroiled in scandals during Blagojevich's tenure.

The Illinois House approved a bill Thursday that would remove the directors of several pension boards and require new, tighter ethics considerations in the appointment of their replacements.

Additionally Thursday, Quinn vowed to appeal the State Employees Retirement System board's decision to bump up the retirement pay of Rep. Kurt Granberg, a Centralia Democrat, who served just three weeks as the head of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Granberg was appointed to the post by Blagojevich on Jan. 16, but Quinn fired him Feb. 5. Afterward, the pension board voted to increase his pension by $30,000 a year, from $73,000 to more than $113,000 a year, according to reports.

"Have you no decency? To take an additional $1 million from the people of Illinois?" he said angrily. "I will appeal that pension board ruling ... that was a mistake."