In light of a circuit court ruling overturning Illinois’ pension reform law, state Attorney General Lisa Madigan said her office would appeal the ruling up to the state Supreme Court “shortly”.
Madigan said the law could end up in the Supreme Court as soon as January.
More from CBS Chicago:
Madigan said she expects to file an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court “shortly,” after a Springfield judge ruled Friday that a law aimed at fixing the state’s $100 billion pension crisis violated a provision of the Illinois Constitution which prohibits reducing public employee retirement benefits once they’re promised.
The state will seek an expedited hearing from the Supreme Court.
“It could be as early as the end of January, but it will be up to the Illinois Supreme Court as to whether or not to grand our motion for an expedited hearing, and we will be filing that shortly, but have not filed that yet,” Madigan said.
Madigan said the state’s defense will not change. From CBS:
Madigan, who defended the law before a Sangamon County Circuit Court judge earlier this year, and lost, said she does not plan to change tactics when the case goes before the high court.
“We think we have a very strong argument, and we will make that argument to the Illinois Supreme Court,” she said.
The law froze cost-of-living adjustments and raised the retirement age. It was ruled unconstitutional because, according to the initial court ruling, the Illinois Constitution protects retirement benefits from being “impaired”.
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