CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' Republican legislative leaders said on Tuesday that lawmakers in their party want to help Chicago address a looming $550 million pension payment increase in the waning days of the legislative session.
"We'd like to be partners in trying to fix that situation as well," Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said at a news conference at the state capitol in Springfield aimed at pushing Democrats who control the House and Senate to negotiate ways to reform and balance the state's ailing budget.
Radogno's spokeswoman, Patty Schuh, said Republican leaders have met with Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's staff, but she declined to discuss what fixes are under consideration.
Representatives for House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, who are both Chicago Democrats, said their members continue to be involved in budget talks. Madigan's staff is working on a proposed city-owned casino for Chicago, his spokesman said.
Chicago's sagging finances are weighed down by a $20 billion unfunded pension liability and a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling preventing reductions in public worker pensions.
Moody's Investors Service on May 12 lowered the city's bond rating to junk status, triggering $2.2 billion in potentially accelerated debt payments by the city.
Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings have also downgraded ratings for Chicago.
The Moody's downgrade led the city to delay an initial bond deal scheduled for Tuesday that is part of the mayor's plan to convert $800 million of variable-rate general obligation bonds to fixed-rate debt by mid-June to end interest-rate swaps, a city official said late on Monday.
"We are evaluating specific options to achieve the lowest borrowing cost for Chicago taxpayers in light of the action Moody's took last week," the official said.
Emanuel, who began his second term as mayor on Monday, has suggested a restructuring of the state-mandated $550 million hike in contributions to the city's police and fire retirement funds due in 2016.
With the legislative session scheduled to end on May 31, Radogno and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin told reporters that Democrats need to stop playing politics and start serious work on the fiscal 2016 budget.
"The Democrats are desperate for revenue," Radogno said. "The problem is we're desperate for reform. And, there's not going be revenue before there is reform."
Republican Governor Bruce Rauner has proposed a $32 billion general funds budget that relies on $6.6 billion in spending cuts.