Constitution of Illinois

It was a kind of dictatorship, elective dictatorship in Chicago in that era.

And, uh, my dad, who was not a politician, ran for office to challenge the Daley machine when they rewrote the Illinois Constitution in 1970, and he won what I think was only the second victory against the, the machine.

And so I kind of grew up in this community that was very political, very liberal, very intellectual, especially on my dad's side, but in which I would say there was a kind of reverence for the idea of public service properly understood, which was, in particular, trying to make Chicago a better place to live.

Public service for its own sake and for the reasons, for public civic virtue reasons, is what you're, you're saying.

Once a pension benefit is granted, it cannot be diminished.

The court quoted extensively from the constitutional text and the legislative history and found that the framers of the 1970 Illinois Constitution meant exactly what they wrote.

So Illinois cannot cut the benefits.

cannot meaningfully raise the assumed rate of return beyond where it already is, is constitutionally prohibited from defaulting, and is watching pension costs consume a larger and larger fraction of its operating budget every year.

Should we take down statues? His only claim to fame was, as a public figure, was having fought for the Union.

When John Logan, as a member of the Illinois legislature... had an amendment added to the Illinois Constitution that prohibited black people from living there.

But, you know, that's okay.

Because he fought for the union, you see.