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Quinn: Delay retirement, charge employees more in proposed pension plan

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn.
(UPI/Bill Greenblatt)
Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn.

Will be updated.

Updated 2:07 p.m. with more information on downstate schools, cause of pension problem.

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn wants to raise the retirement age for Illinois public employees and require them to contribute more money to their retirement funds.

Those are the key parts of what Quinn calls a "bold plan" to shore up state pension systems. They're now about $85 billion short of the money they'll eventually need.

The Democratic governor says the retirement age should be raised to 67 and employee contributions should climb by 3 percent.

Illinois Public Radio reporter Amanda Vinicky tweeted that Quinn said he "was put on earth to get this done," referring to his pension stabilization plan.

Quinn also wants downstate and suburban school districts to start contributing to the pensions of their employees. The state pays for that now.

At a Chicago news conference Friday, Quinn acknowledged the pension problem was largely caused by the state falling short. But the cost of his new plan mostly falls on workers.