Steven Reick, Republican candidate in Illinois House District 63, recently spoke up about the current pension crisis in Illinois, vowing that if he is elected this fall, he will refuse a legislative pension.
"Lower returns mean larger required contributions to keep up with promised benefits,” Reick said. “The day is fast approaching when someone's going to try to cash a pension check on an account that's overdrawn."
Reick has said that this is an easy decision; if elected, he will be ruled by Tier II, which is a second, lower-level pension.
“Holding public office was never meant to be a career but has become so because of the perks and benefits that accompany the job," Reick said. "If we do away with pensions for elected officials, they’ll be less likely to settle in and make it a career.”
To stop the ongoing pension crisis, Reick is encouraging reforms in local government. He believes that if current leadership continues in its role, then Illinois’ budget, taxes, pension and other problems will continue as well.
“Albert Einstein once said that we cannot solve our problems by using the same thinking that created those problems in the first place," Reick said. “We won’t get anywhere if we continue to rely on the status quo thinking of (House Speaker) Michael Madigan and (Rep.) Jack Franks. We’re too far down the road for that.”
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