SPRINGFIELD - Retirement benefits aren't taxed in Illinois, and a group of former state workers wants to keep it that way.

In a survey being sent to candidates for state offices, the Illinois State Employees Association Retirees is asking whether the candidates would support any effort to tax retirement benefits for retirees living in the state.

"We need to make certain that taxing pension benefits would not be an acceptable revenue alternative," the organization said in a news release Tuesday.

The candidates for governor say they are against taxing retirement benefits.

"We are not taxing retiree benefits," said Sheila Nix, campaign spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"We are adamantly opposed," added John McGovern, campaign spokesman for Republican Judy Baar Topinka.

Despite the positions of the gubernatorial candidates, Rudy Kink, retirement director of the organization, said he wants to hear from all of the candidates in order to give his group's 9,000 members a clear picture of where elected officials stand on the issue.

State pension systems have been in the crosshairs during the past four years as Gov. Rod Blagojevich has sought to find revenue without raising taxes.

In his first year in office, Blagojevich sold long-term state pension debt in order to generate upfront cash to run state government.

In 2005, the Democrat-led General Assembly approved a plan crafted by the Blagojevich administration to skip payments on the state's pension obligations in order to generate cash to fund other state programs.

That has upset retirement groups, Republicans and federal lawmakers because Illinois continues to have the most underfunded pension system in the nation, with a $38 billion liability.

A congressional subcommittee is planning a hearing today in Springfield aimed at examining the financial outlook of Illinois' pension system.

The panel is expected to examine the financial outlook of state and local government pension plans in order to determine how their operations could impact workers, retirees and taxpayers.