CHICAGO — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's request for more time to consider whether to appeal the Illinois Supreme Court's voiding of a 2013 state pension system overhaul.
On Aug. 3, Justice Elena Kagan granted Madigan's request to extend a deadline by 35 days to Sept. 10. Madigan's office said it is "continuing to consider all arguments the next best steps."
The office has downplayed the request, calling the filing routine while also stressing that no decision has been made.
The state Supreme Court in May overturned legislation to overhaul four of the state's five pension funds, saying it violated the state constitution's pension clause protecting benefits against being diminished or impaired.
After the high court's May ruling, Madigan's office originally said it had no plan to appeal. "The court has provided a definitive interpretation of the constitution that must now guide the legislature and the governor going forward," the office then said.
The petition sought an extension in the time the state may file a certiorari petition asking the high court to review the Illinois Supreme Court's decision. The state wants more time to review the ruling handed down a Cook County Circuit Court judge issued in a Chicago pension case, and it notes the busy schedule of its own lead state pension case attorneys on other cases.
"This case raises important issues regarding the reserved powers doctrine of the United States constitution which prohibits a state from surrendering 'an essential attribute of its sovereignty' including its 'police powers' to modify contractual obligations in particular when exercising those powers is 'reasonable and necessary to serve an important public purpose," the filing says.
The state could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the doctrine prevents a state from abdicating its police powers to in the face of contractual obligations and, if not, whether the state supreme court applied the correct standard, according to the filing.
