The problem Skyrocketing retirement costs for Illinois’ state and local government workers are wreaking havoc on governments’ ability to provide core services such as public safety, education and infrastructure. States and cities across the nation continue to struggle with massive pension and health-care costs, which force residents to pay higher taxes and fees to receive...
TAGS: health insurance
By Brian Costin
05/30/2014
A key portion of the Institute’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist, the posting of audits online, has made its way through the Illinois General Assembly. House Bill 5503 passed both Illinois House and Senate unanimously, and now awaits the governor’s signature. If signed into law by the governor, HB 5503, introduced by state Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon,...
By Jonathan Ingram
12/10/2013
House Speaker Mike Madigan and proponents of the temporary pension “fix” enacted last week promised taxpayers that it would immediately reduce the state’s unfunded pension liability by about $20 billion. But despite these promises, the credit rating agencies have indicated that they would be waiting for actuarial analyses before making any decisions on how the new law...
TAGS: pensions
By Ted Dabrowski
07/02/2013
After several months of saying that pension reform inaction by the Illinois General Assembly costs taxpayers $17 million a day, Gov. Pat Quinn lowered that number to $5 million per day for fiscal year 2014. That’s surprising, since no pension reform bill was passed in the recent legislative session and the unfunded liability is still almost...
By Brian Costin
06/21/2013
If taxpayers don’t file their tax returns by April 15 each year they could face stiff penalties from state and federal government. But what about when government fails to file its financial report to the taxpayers on a timely basis? According to the Government Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, government agencies should release their financial...
By Jonathan Ingram
05/22/2013
Back in January, Ralph Martire of the union-backed Center for Tax and Budget Accountability proposedwhat he called a “solution” for Illinois’ pension crisis. This plan has been getting more attention lately. But before embracing it, lawmakers should ask: does this plan really solve the problem? After all, Martire’s plan is to leave the broken pension system untouched –...
TAGS: Senate Bill 1
For governments like the ones in Stockton and Illinois, government worker pension plans need ambitious investment returns of nearly 8 percent year in and year out to fund the overly generous benefits officials have handed out
TAGS: pensions
By Ted Dabrowski
12/14/2012
As the pension crisis threatens to engulf Illinois, legislators continue to fiddle. It’s no secret that Illinois has the worst-funded state pension systems in the nation. That’s an accepted fact by those on both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, that fact hasn’t motivated any action from the state’s politicians. Now recent news point to even...
By Jonathan Ingram
11/19/2012
Illinois’ pension systems are one year closer to complete insolvency. According to actuarial reports, the state’s five public pension systems owe a combined $94.6 billion. That’s up 14 percent from the $82.9 billion reported last year. Worse yet, none of the pension systems have enough assets on hand to pay benefits to those who have...
