Quinn: No Pay for Illinois Lawmakers Until Pension Reform Passed

Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn said on Sunday that he stood firmly behind his decision to suspend pay for state lawmakers until they pass legislation to fix the state's troubled pension system.

"Because our legislature has not put a pension-reform bill on my desk... I finally said to the legislators, 'We're not going to give you your pay until you put a pension-reform bill on my desk,'" Quinn said on CNN's "State of the Union." "This is a major issue that we have to work together on."

Illinois lawmakers adjourned their session last month without addressing the $100 billion burden of the state's pension system on the struggling economy.

Quinn also described the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case as a "tragic episode" and said the fact that the now-acquitted George Zimmerman defied orders by law-enforcement officials to follow the teenager is troubling.

Quinn also called into question Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

"It's important that we really look at this Stand Your Ground law,” Quinn said. "I don't think that’s a good law. We don't have that in Illinois, and we don't want it."