The California city of Stockton’s bankruptcy case took an interesting turn yesterday. The big question surrounding the city’s bankruptcy has always been what might happen to city employee pensions. Most government advocates assumed that these pensions would remain untouched no matter what happened to Stockton’s finances. Now the federal judge in charge of the bankruptcy...

The recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling on state retiree health insurance benefits creates a major problem for both the state and local governments. The court ruled that retiree health insurance benefits are protected by the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution. The ruling will make it difficult to reform retiree health benefits and to...

A convicted torturer is still receiving an Illinois state pension. On July 3, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of a decision by Chicago’s police pension board allowing disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge to continue receiving his approximately $3,000 per month pension. That’s despite the fact that Burge is currently serving a...