Chicago pension cuts held up by judge

Cook County Circuit Judge Neil Cohen has rejected a motion by Chicago to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 30,000 retired city workers over their pension benefits.

But Cohen dismissed, for now, a lifetime benefits claim made by retirees who started working for the city after Aug. 23, 1989. He argued that they began working under a statute that provided benefits only for limited periods of time.

At the same time, Cohen ruled that the lifetime health care coverage of 20,000 people who started working for the city prior to Aug. 23, 1989, are protected by the Illinois Constitution's pension protection clause. It states that those benefits "shall not be diminished or impaired."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel had hoped to cut $108.7 million a year in city spending with a three-year phase-out of the city's 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care.

For the complete story, check chicago.suntimes.com.