Legislators Lend Ears to Council

Changing the interest arbitration process, reforming pension for public safety employees and extending the Emergency Telephone Safety Act were issues presented as Naperville City Council priorities during Tuesday’s .

Sen. Tom Johnson (R-48th) and state reps. Mike Connelly (R-Lisle), Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) and Darlene Senger (R-Naperville) sat in on the session, when the council announced issues it will pursue through lobbying. A spokesperson from the office of Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) also was present. The group listened quietly for most of the hour-and-a-half long workshop, but occasionally weighed in on the issues.

Dan DiSanto, assistant to the city manager, presented the ideas. He said prior to the meeting that holding the roundtable allows the city to hear from lawmakers without having to travel to Springfield. Mayor George Pradel echoed those sentiments once the session began.

"We're preaching to the choir because we know that you are our friends and you really want a partnership with us to make these things happen," Pradel said to the legislators. " … We're hoping to find a smoother way of running city and state government."

The following is a summary of discussion items from Tuesday's roundtable:

• DiSanto said Illinois is ranked "dead last in terms of workers’ compensation for employers, which contributes to the state’s abysmal business environment." He said that while the council hopes compensation is reformed to decrease fraud and limit claims, the council will not be actively lobbying for the issue in Springfield this year. Legislators said workers' compensation is already a priority for lawmakers.
• Changes to the interest arbitration process did make the city's to-do list, DiSanto said. The process is used to dispel labor disputes between public safety employees who can't strike and their respective municipalities. Naperville is looking for ways to include consideration of economic circumstances when negotiating and what it can feasibly pay employees, DiSanto said. “When a city has debt or is cutting staff, this is important to be considered," he said.
• The city council lobbied Tuesday for an extension of the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety Act, which is set to expire in April 1, 2013. Senger introduced House Bill 5336 last year to extend the deadline by six more years, but the bill didn't move. DiSanto called the funding "essential to municipal budgets" because the law levies a surcharge on phone carriers. Naperville receives about $2 million each year to curb costs associated with arming cell phone users with the city's 911 service, he said.
• Bringing more accountability, ethics, professionalism and fund management to pension reform also were discussed. Reforms for employees currently in pension systems was referred to as the "No. 1 priority" by several council members Tuesday. Senger recently drafted a bill, she said, that would give state employees the choice of contributing more money to stay in their current plans, transferring money into a 401(k), or keeping their contributions the same and joining the more-restricted plan given to new hires. "If we can get some traction on this, we need to put it right up there and chase it down," said Councilman Richard Furstenau. "In the scheme of things … this is costing us a ton of money in just daily salaries."

The roundtable concluded with Furstenau and fellow council member Grant Wehrli encouraging legislators to increase transparency. Wehrli suggested televising committee meetings, as is done in Naperville.

"I totally hear you," Senger said. "I wish the public would pay more attention to what's going on in Springfield."

The city council will formally vote on its list of legislative priorities Feb. 1 at its regular meeting.