The pension crisis is worse than the state admits, and the state’s official projections cannot be trusted.
Illinois pensions 101: Paltry contributions yield million-dollar payouts
Across all five state retirement systems, typical career workers pay for about 5% of the cost of their pension benefits. They receive an average of $1.7 million to $3.6 million.
CTBA pension plan: Unsound, unfair and unaffordable
A pension plan pushed by one Illinois think tank fails to reform the state’s broken pension system and risks repeating costly mistakes. Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker shouldn’t be fooled and should instead endorse meaningful, lasting reform.
Harvey pension crisis leads to mass layoffs
Police, firemen and other government workers will be laid off to cover pension costs.
Damage from Edgar ramp obscured by dotcom boom
Former Gov. Jim Edgar’s pension compromise with House Speaker Mike Madigan in the 1990s set the state’s pension funds down an unsustainable road.
The Edgar ramp – the ‘reform’ that unleashed Illinois’ pension crisis
The former governor’s landmark pension bill paved the way for two decades of go-along-to-get-along pension politics, turning Illinois' pension debt into the nation's largest retirement crisis.
IL taxpayers overpaid for pensions by more than $16B under original Edgar ramp
What happens when financial gimmicks win out over real pension reform?