SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s test run of pension reform, designed to show the financial world that lawmakers could take even the smallest step toward fixing a gaping $96.7 billion hole, barely won approval Wednesday – on the second try – casting further doubt on a mess that has vexed legislators for more than a year.

The Senate voted 30-22 to reform just one state pension system facing financial trouble, but it was the largest of five, the Teachers’ Retirement System.

True to the approach he’s taken previously, Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, wrote the legislation to give teachers a choice between health care coverage during retirement or reduced annual cost-of-living increases.