As expected, Illinois legislators made no significant dent in the biggest problem in Illinois’ pension crisis despite Gov. Pat Quinn’s optimism.

In fact, the closer Friday’s special pension session got, the more members of their respective parties clung closer to their party leaders’ stances and farther from the kind of compromise it’s going to take to resolve the $83 billion pension liability that Illinoisans face.

That’s disappointing and even more so as we get closer to the November election, where all House and Senate seats are up, although not all contested. It’s going to take courage to resolve the pension crisis, which you can expect to be in short supply when votes and campaign cash are on the line.