The Fall Veto Session this year runs Nov. 27 to 29 and Dec. 4 to 6. (Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr user aka Kath)

By Nick Gale

CHICAGO - All Illinois lawmakers want to tackle public pension reform and a casino expansion plan, but how it gets done is a matter of disagreement.

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said it’s going to take a bi-partisan effort to enact public pension reforms.

“It really kind of depends on what the other party wants to do because we need a bi-partisan effort. We cannot do it with one party,” Cullerton said.

But Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) said Democratic leaders haven’t reached out to them.

“Democrats continue to say they need our votes to pass pension reform. Then they need to address our concerns,” Radogno said.

On casino expansion, Cullerton said he plans to sit down with the governor to negotiate a deal. The governor had vetoed gambling expansion legislation because he thought it lacked proper oversight.

Radogno believes it would be difficult to override the governor’s veto this fall, but she said anything is possible in a Lame Duck Session in January.