A coalition of unions says offering to pay 2 percent more toward their retirements represents a ``shared sacrifice'' on their part to address Illinois' pension crisis.
The group is called We Are One Illinois. They released a study Wednesday blasting two pension proposals before lawmakers and offered their own solutions. Those include having employees paying more, cutting $2 billion in tax loopholes and hosting a pension summit with lawmakers next month. Legislators at the heart of pension talks say the recommendations are encouraging, but it's too soon to see if it would push talks forward.
Gov. Pat Quinn set a Jan. 9 deadline to overhaul pensions. That's the day when the lame-duck session ends and new lawmakers are sworn in. Union officials say their pension summit would be held mid-January.
