SPRINGFIELD – In a sharp response to claims that public employees' pension reform concerns have been overlooked, Illinois House Speaker Michael declined an invitation Wednesday to a labor unions summit aimed at discussing the crisis.

The Chicago Democrat released a letter to labor leader Michael Carrigan of the "We are One Illinois" coalition that urged an "honest proposal" to fix the $96 billion problem.

"To date, we have received no cooperation from the labor unions representing state employees on addressing these challenges," Madigan wrote in an RSVP to the Feb. 11 conference. "In fact, these unions often have been strongly opposed to any attempt to solve the problem."