GOP State Senator Mike Connelly is joining forces with a pro-tax union in his quest to win re-election. | IEA
GOP State Senator Mike Connelly is joining forces with a pro-tax union in his quest to win re-election. | IEA
Republicans, even in Illinois, aren't typically supportive of high tax, big government agendas.
But State Sen. Michael Connelly (R-Naperville), facing a serious election challenge for the first time in his career, is bucking the GOP conventional wisdom.
Connelly has joined forces with the state's most powerful public employee union, one that has now endorsed Democrats up and down the 2018 ticket – and him.
State Sen. Mike Connelly (R-Naperville)
| Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois Education Association (IEA), a union that represents about 135,000 teachers and school administrators statewide, announced its endorsement of Connelly last week, a lone Republican in DuPage County along with candidates running against some of his oldest GOP allies.
IEA's DuPage endorsements include Democrat Congressional candidate Sean Casten and state legislative hopefuls, incumbents State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) and State Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park) as well as challengers Karina Villa (D-49th) and Terra Costa Howard (D-48th).
Casten is running against U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton). Howard faces off with incumbent State Rep. Peter Breen (R-Glen Ellyn).
Connolly, Casten, Villa, Howard, Cullerton and Conroy will take the stage together at an IEA rally in Wheaton on Tuesday night, according to a union announcement.
Pay our pensions at any cost
Over the past year, the IEA has been among the most vociferous advocates of raising state property and income taxes even further, to once inconceivable levels, fighting to fund the retirements of its members at any cost.
Connelly and the other IEA-endorsed candidates know these tax hike measures will be a tough sell, even to rank and file Democrats.
IEA-endorsed proposals include a progressive income tax, raising state rates as high as 12 percent, and a statewide property tax of two percent, which would add $6,000 per year to the tax bill of a $300,000 home.
Critics say this approach is destroying home equity in DuPage County, where home values have stagnated as effective property tax rates are already twice the national average.
But IEA leaders say even higher property taxes are still necessary.
The Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) currently is insolvent and has a $70 billion deficit, as local school districts continue to offer retirement packages that don't require teachers to save anywhere near what is necessary to fund them.
For example, the former principal of Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Audrey Haugan of Elgin, retired at age 54 this summer with a retirement package worth $7.1 million. She only saved $358,000 over her 33-year career.
Haughan received an end of career bonus that spiked her pension from the district. A bill limiting the practice was signed into law by Gov. Rauner in July.
Last month, the IEA urged support of a bill that would allow local school districts to continue giving those end-of-career bonuses to teachers and school administrators that serve spike their pension benefits, which are based on their average salary.
"That expense got sent along to the state," explained the Chicago Tribune editorial board in a editorial criticizing the practice. "Which means taxpayers throughout Illinois are paying, and paying, for these districts’ willingness to give away Other People’s Money.".
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