SPRINGFIELD - The following statement was released by Senate President John J. Cullerton regarding Republican leaders’ pension proposal:

“The governor called me this morning to say he was going to back my ideas for pension reform. The plan he outlined at his news conference isn’t what we talked about. It’s not my plan. It goes beyond what we discussed and beyond what I support.

“We apparently still have a fundamental disagreement over the role of collective bargaining in this process, in the sense that I think collective bargaining should continue to exist and the governor does not.

“I look forward to working with the governor to clarify these issues and appreciate his willingness to consider other ideas and just how far he’s moved away from his original pension reform ideas.

“But this is not my plan, not the plan we discussed this morning, and it does not have my support.”