Lawmakers are considering a plan to overhaul Cook County's pension system that could trim some worker benefits despite an Illinois Supreme Court ruling striking down a statewide pension overhaul.
A House committee approved the measure Wednesday by a 5-4 vote along party lines.
The plan calls for raising the retirement age and increasing county employees' contributions to their pension plans. But it also increases cost-of-living adjustments and the county's payments into the plan. Proponents argue that would offset the benefit losses and get around the high court's ruling that benefits cannot be diminished.
The same plan passed the Senate last spring but failed to move in the House. At least one employee union opposes the plan.
