The outsized benefits received by retired government workers under the State Universities Retirement System and the unfair burden this places on taxpayers demonstrate the urgent need to reform Illinois’ government-worker pensions.
Reforming Illinois’ Teachers’ Retirement System is the only hope for saving the pension fund from insolvency and providing the accountability and retirement security that teachers and taxpayers deserve.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool calls for an end to “pickups” of employee pension contributions, which would save the cash-strapped district $174 million a year.
If lawmakers begin to enter the ObamaCare exchanges themselves, it will certainly draw attention to the hypocrisy of some lawmakers who have imposed this costly law on Americans. But perhaps more importantly, it could serve as an important lever to force lawmakers to re-examine the most damaging aspects of the law.
The new federal spending bill, dubbed the “CRomnibus,” codifies that the ACA payments to insurers are budget-neutral, as the revenue to fund them will come from fees already assessed on health-insurance plans. This is not the blank check that insurers were hoping for.
Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...