CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois officials emerged from a closed-door meeting Wednesday divided over the next steps in solving the state's most pressing financial issue: somehow closing an $83 billion funding gap for its retirement systems.
The top Democrat and Republican in the Senate and the House Republican leader argued for quickly adopting a proposal that has the widest support before continuing to negotiate. But Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan are insisting on a more comprehensive solution that would include a transfer of pension costs to school districts, a proposal that scuttled negotiations last week.
Legislative leaders, taking up the issue after talks collapsed in the final days of the spring legislative session, are under pressure to act soon as bond-rating agencies have made it clear they will downgrade the state's already-low credit rating unless Illinois finds a way to reduce the strain state pensions put on the budget.
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