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Rauner open to schools paying more for teacher pensions

Gov. Bruce Rauner said Tuesday he's open to suburban school districts paying more of the share of teachers' pension costs if the move is paired with some of his anti-union proposals.

In past years, top Illinois Democrats have proposed trying to ease budget troubles by having local school districts pay the share of teachers' pensions the state picks up now, an idea suburban districts said would bust their budgets.

"I've told them I'm open to considering that as part of overall reforms," the Republican governor told reporters today.

Those overall reforms include wanting to give local voters more say into what school districts have to negotiate with teachers unions, an idea that hasn't gotten much traction in the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly.

Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said Tuesday his latest plan to freeze property taxes for two years and send money to Chicago schools to help pay for pensions also would avoid such a cost shift.

State Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican, asked Cullerton about the idea at a hearing, saying suburban schools are "looking at what Springfield is doing and saying 'We have to prepare for the actions that Springfield may well take.'"

Cullerton replied his plan avoids asking local schools to pay more for pension costs because the idea has been so distasteful to some lawmakers.

"It's a balance," Cullerton said. "We have to get people from the suburbs, downstate and Chicago to vote for this bill."

The idea of shifting retirement costs has resurfaced recently in the debate over the pension payment for Chicago Public Schools, which pays its own employer share of teacher pensions without the same kind of help from the state that suburban and downstate schools get.

"Let's be clear: It doesn't save money. It shifts which bucket the money comes from," Rauner said. "But overall, Illinois taxpayers, one way or the other, are paying high costs. It comes out of either their left pocket or their right pocket."

Rauner also has offered a plan that would send $200 million to Chicago schools to help with that payment, but he has again paired it with the union proposals.

"All I'm saying is, let local people decide," Rauner said. "It's not right to work. It's not crushing unions."

Rauner has his day at the Illinois State Fair Wednesday, an annual party-building rally. Democrats' day is Thursday.

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