By Kevin Lee     Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD  –  Gov. Pat Quinn has not yet acted on a sweeping pension plan sent to his office more than two weeks ago.

The governor has publicly supported the pension changes since last month, but his inaction with the pension plan brings up questions on his intentions heading into budget negotiations in the upcoming weeks.

“I consider this one of the biggest challenges the state has had, especially over the last couple of decades,” Quinn said on Tuesday. “It’s confounded legislators and governors before me, and we have to roll up our sleeves and address this issue today in 2010 and get it done right.”

In a whirlwind series of events in late March, Democratic legislative leaders pushed through a plan to reduce retirement benefits for incoming state and other public employees, such as teachers and other school employees, university teachers and staff, lawmakers and judges.

The plan included an increase in the minimum retirement age for a worker to receive full benefits, as well as a lower cap on annual reimbursement.

Lawmakers justified the need for a “two-tiered pension system” for new state and public employees because of concerns over a current massive unfunded pension liability.

They also cited that with the state’s bond ratings on notice from rating agencies, reduced benefits would help reduce the state’s structural deficit and protect against further ratings downgrades.

Quinn released a statement praising lawmakers soon after the plan received bipartisan support from both legislative chambers.

But the governor said his office was going over a final review of the plan, and he did not indicate how or when he would act on the plan.

“We’re reviewing everything, we want to make sure that it’s acceptable. That’s what you have to do when you’re deciding whether to sign or not sign a bill,” he said.

Last year, lawmakers sent an expansive $26 billion public works plan to Quinn’s desk, anticipating an influx of projects for the state and individual districts.

Quinn delayed signing that plan in order to motivate lawmakers to pass his proposed 50 percent income tax increase.

The delay ended up backfiring – House lawmakers rejected Quinn’s proposed tax increase, while Senate Democrats passed by a supermajority their own version of the tax hike.

This year, Quinn is proposing a 33 percent income tax increase, with revenues going towards public education funding, and thereby eliminating the need for $1.3 billion in proposed education cuts.

The state Constitution permits Quinn 60 days to act once a legislative proposal is sent to him. That means Quinn could wait until near the end of May before deciding whether or not to approve the pension changes.

But when asked if he would delay acting upon the pension plan to muster support for his education income tax surcharge, Quinn said he didn’t “see it that way.”

“You cannot have a huge deficit, as I inherited, without cutting costs and making sure you have adequate revenue,” he said. “That will be our mission for the remaining weeks of this legislative session.”

GOP nominee for governor State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, criticized Quinn for not doing enough to fix the state’s fiscal problems.

“Pat Quinn could govern in a way that instills confidence in our state. Instead, Governor Quinn has decided to follow the Blagojevich playbook, constantly threatening budget cuts designed to scare and intimidate people into following his tired approach.” he said in a statement.