A plan to consolidate 649 downstate municipal police and firefighter pension funds into just two unified systems hit an unexpected snag Tuesday, but officials on both sides of the disagreement vowed to continue talking in hopes of reaching an agreement.
Just hours before the bill was scheduled for a hearing in a House committee, the Illinois Municipal League, which has long supported pension fund consolidation, issued a statement saying a last-minute change to the bill forced that organization to withdraw its support.
“I would say we have an agreed bill. It is not this bill,” IML Executive Director Brad Cole told the Personnel and Pensions Committee, using a legislative term that refers to a bill on which all affected parties have agreed.