Photo credit (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot says a state official’s anger toward her is misdirected, when it comes to city pension systems making decisions that impact first-responders disabled by COVID-19.
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza says her Chicago police sergeant brother, who lost kidneys and suffered other health issues from COVID, was denied expanded pension benefits because he couldn’t prove he contracted the disease on the job.
Other first-responders have had similar denials, and Mendoza, a onetime mayoral candidate, blames Lightfoot appointees on the pension board.
The comptroller is asking state lawmakers to pass a measure that won’t require such a high burden of proof. Lightfoot said she’s not against the Illinois General Assembly considering changes, but she declined to offer her thoughts beyond that.
The mayor, however, rejected any suggestion her administration is not concerned about the health and welfare of first-responders.
She said she does not get involved in pension cases and it would be inappropriate and unethical for her to do so.
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