Chicago tried to convince a sometimes skeptical Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday that a 2014 law deserves to survive a constitutional challenge because it aims to save two of the city's retirement funds from insolvency by guaranteeing adequate funding, Reuters reported yesterday. The city, which is struggling with a $20 billion unfunded pension liability in its four retirement systems, is appealing a Cook County Circuit Court judge's July decision voiding the law. In oral arguments on Tuesday, Chicago's top city attorney, Stephen Patton, said that while the law includes "modest reductions in future automatic increases" in retiree pensions, it differs from a 2013 law that unilaterally cut benefits for Illinois' retirement systems and was struck down as unconstitutional by the state high court in May. The Illinois Supreme Court in May tossed out the 2013 law that reduced retirement benefits for state workers to ease Illinois' $105 billion unfunded pension liability. All seven justices agreed that the Illinois Constitution protected public sector workers against pension benefits cuts.
