Eric Zorn
Change of Subject:
OK, what about this idea on pensions?
Chicago Tribune
September 7, 2015

In this post Zorn discusses the ideas on pensions and what an alternate solution to the problem at hand could be. He suggests to give each public employee a choice on weather or not to give up the compounded 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase guaranteed in their pension and accept a lower annual increase, or keep the generous COLA, but agree that any future raises that the employee will  receive will not count toward the salary which their pension will be based upon. Neither option is an attractive choice, but according to Zorn giving employees a choice is constitutional and will solve nearly every problem Illinois is having currently. In Illinois the constitution states that public employee pension benefits will not be "diminished or impaired" and recent court decisions have thwarted lawmaker's attempts to encourage employees to accept less than what they were promised. The two choices appeal to different age groups in the working force; the first, for younger workers and the second, for older. Madera says that having employees make a decision may seem unfair but that does not make it coercive under Illinois law.
 Zorn ends his post with the question of "Have a better idea?" which is very informal and also causes the audience to reflect on what he has just discussed; which is a wise move on his part because really, what else can they do? There is no other alternative.