Illinois’ collapsing state pension systems are seen as the poster child of pension crises across the nation. But another pension crisis is taking place even closer to home. There are nearly 650 locally run pension funds in Illinois, which cover retired police officers and firefighters, along with one consolidated fund for municipal retirees. These municipal...
There’s one simple reason why Detroit finally filed for bankruptcy in 2013. When it came time to pay its bills, the Motor City had run out of taxpayers. Taxpayers fled Detroit for decades as the city’s tax bill kept growing and its vital government services, such as public safety, were slashed. Detroit has lost more...
Many of Illinois' local pension funds are nearing insolvency.
Not unlike ObamaCare, a bill Congress had to pass “to find out what’s in it,” Illinois’ General Assembly passed a pension fix in December 2013 without an official scoring of the bill. During floor debates, House Leader Mike Madigan and proponents of Senate Bill 1 promised $160 billion in savings over 30 years. Many opponents...
Illinois has the worst pension crisis in the nation. If real reforms aren’t enacted, retirees will see their pensions slashed, taxpayers will be forced into a massive bailout and younger state workers might not receive a pension at all. The recent pension reform bill that passed is actually a step backward for the state. Only...
You may be hearing about rosy new pension estimates coming out of Springfield, but don’t be too quick to bite. A memo recently released by legislative leadership points to “good news” coming from a new analysis of Senate Bill 1 to be included in Illinois’ upcoming bond offering on Feb. 6, 2014. The memo claims...
In December 2013, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a pension “reform” bill with many serious flaws. For example, it: barely makes a dent in the state’s unfunded pension liability; guarantees pension funding at the expense of taxpayers and all other government services; creates a fake 401(k) plan; doesn’t means test cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs; still allows state workers to retire much earlier...
Illinois has 43 percent of the nation’s public pension plans, according to a 2012 study published by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, conducted by Marquette Associates on local police and fire pensions in Illinois. According to publicly available data, there are 1,511 public pension plans in the United States. With 657...
Illinois’ pensions are among the worst-funded in the nation. The state has just 40 cents for every $1 that has been promised in benefits, and many government workers are concerned that they do not have choice and control over their own retirement. Illinois should not be forced to leave their retirement to the whims of...
Lawmakers met in Springfield on Tuesday for a special session on pension reform. After an early morning committee hearing, a gathering of each of the four legislative caucuses and several hours of lengthy floor debates, a pension bill passed the House and Senate, and now awaits Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature. The Illinois Policy Institute adamantly...
The Illinois General Assembly sent a pension bill to Gov. Pat Quinn. It is important to be clear about what this bill is and is not. Let’s start with what this bill is not. This bill is not the sweeping reform that Illinois has been waiting – fighting – for over the past few years....
Madigan’s new pension “fix” does nothing to address the problems with the current pension system. Here’s another reason why Illinois teachers should urge their legislators to vote “no”: the new pension bill does nothing to address the unfair distribution of pensions under the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS. Amazingly, the pension a teacher in TRS...
For 33 years, Clyde Tome served the city of Detroit as a firefighter. Every day he was on duty he knew his life was on the line; in one encounter with riot fires, Tome watched a colleague die. Another time, he saw a nearby fireman killed in a random shooting. For his commitment, Tome counted...
Though House Speaker Mike Madigan claims his new pension proposal will save $160 billion over 30 years, much of what the Speaker calls “pension reform” is little more than a mix of accounting changes and a plan to commandeer more taxpayer funds. Madigan needed to find more savings since this version of his bill allows...