Gov. Pat Quinn hopes Squeezy the Pension Python will educate Illinois residents about the need for reform of a badly underfunded pension system.

Local lawmakers, however, say the cartoon character is just another distraction by a governor slithering around the problem.

“I’d prefer that he’d discuss and offer constitutionally accurate pension reform on the website,” said state Sen. Dan Duffy, R-Lake Barrington. “But it’s opening the discussion, and I guess that’s a good thing.”