The Illinois Senate today moved to non-concur to Senate Bill 1 as amended by the House. This was the first step toward an agreed conference committee to resolve the pension crisis. The Illinois House then acted to refuse to recede from their amendment and create the committee on reform. 

The conference committee will be comprised of 10 members. Five will be appointed from the Senate, three appointed by the President and two appointed by the Minority Leader. Five additional members will be appointed by the House. Three will be appointed by the Speaker and two appointed by the Minority Leader.

Read more: Senate moves toward a conference committee on pensions

With the court-imposed July 9 deadline looming, senators are asking the governor to take swift action on a bipartisan concealed-carry legislation that passed both chambers of the General Assembly last month.

Yesterday, several Senate Democrats urged Quinn to act quickly to sign the bill to prevent a public safety crisis should he fail to act. The governor also is facing increasing pressure from state's attorneys in several downstate counties who say they are no longer going to uphold the current ban.

Read more: State's attorneys add twist to concealed-carry issue

As economies around the world and in the U.S. continue to rebound, Chicago is expected to be the second-most competitive U.S. city and ninth worldwide in attracting businesses, capital and talent, according to a report published this week.

Crain’s reported the results today of a study commissioned by Citigroup Inc. based on a number of factors of competitiveness. Chicago is expected to move up three spots on the list to ninth place by 2025 based on economic strength, institutional character, human capitol, global appeal a range of indicators. The city ranked fourth globally, higher than any other U.S. city, on environmental governance and risk of natural disasters. Social and cultural character and infrastructure also ranked high in the study.

Read more in Crain’s article.

Senate President John Cullerton discusses the end of the spring 2013 legislative session.

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SPRINGFIELD – Senate President John J. Cullerton released the following statement on the status of pension reform in Illinois:

“When I became Senate President I took an oath to uphold the constitution and I made a promise to make the Senate an open chamber where member legislation gets a fair hearing. Anyone following the issue of pension reform can confirm that I have honored those commitments this session.

I personally have worked to craft reform proposals that might satisfy the constitution and while achieving considerable savings. To date the Senate has worked to pass five different pieces of legislation designed to reform our systems within the confines of the constitution. Not one of these plans was brought to the House floor for a vote.

My preference for adhering to the plain language of the constitution hasn’t prevented me from working with other leaders who interpret the pension clause differently. That’s been evidenced by the fact that I refused to block votes on opposing pension plans.

I crafted a compromise plan that would have made unilateral cuts to the law while including a default constitutional savings plan. I then voted for a second plan and sponsored a third plan to impose unilateral cuts pension benefits.

As Senate President, I could have buried those proposals to satisfy my personal political philosophy. That is not why I am Senate President and that is not how I lead.

The Senate has spoken repeatedly and consistently on pension reform. Still, this issue is not resolved. I am committed to staying at the table until a comprehensive solution is passed into law. I invite Governor Quinn, Speaker Madigan and all leaders of the General Assembly to continue with me."

UPDATE: Please take a moment to listen to Senate President Cullerton comments to reporters.