Governor Pat Quinn initially said a campaign dealing with public employee pensions would begin in August. Illinois owes $83 billion more in pensions than there is money available. That debt has prompted widespread calls for cuts to state employees' and teachers' benefits.
The Governor had called legislators in for a one day session over the summer to make the cuts, but they adjourned on August 17th without doing taking action.
Quinn's reaction that day was to get the public involved:
"I think it's time to get the people involved. I intend in the new few days, to activate a strategy in Illinois that lets the everyday people and the leaders of our state who are not in politics have an opportunity to have their say with respect to this very, very important issue." -Governor Pat Quinn
Here's how Quinn responded when a reporter asked for an update:
"We're working on a very good program I think that will involve the people of Illinois in this mission. Because the real issue is we want to have proper resources for the proper education of these little boys and girls who are just in preschool, and now they're in grammar school, and then they're going to be going to middle school and then to high school and ultimately to college." - Governor Pat Quinn
Now Quinn is mum on the issue, since it's mid-October and there's still no grassroots campaign. His spokeswoman says the administration is putting something together and will have more details soon.
Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky contributed to this report
