SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A Sangamon County judge is set to rule on the constitutionality of the landmark Illinois pension overhaul. The decision could determine whether the matter is ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court.

Circuit Judge John Belz plans to rule Friday. He set the timetable during a hearing Thursday at which he considered arguments about whether the state can use the crisis of a $100 billion retirement-fund debt to cut benefits to retirees.

Belz indicated in September that he’d like to move the case to the high court quickly because of the precedent set in a separate ruling in July. The Supreme Court decreed that a plan to require government retirees to pay more for health insurance was unconstitutional.
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