Illinois has the worst-funded pension systems in the nation. But there’s one group of state-government workers that isn’t worried about whether their retirement checks will be slashed. Today, more than 13 percent of all active employees in the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, participate in a 401(k)-style plan instead of a traditional pension plan...

Given they depend on the nation’s worst-funded pension systems for their retirement security, Illinois’ government workers may want to take a look at how a group of Arizona firefighters are responding to pension-fund problems of their own. Arizona’s firefighters fear that out-of-control pension costs could bankrupt cities in Arizona, resulting in cuts to pensions like...

Illinois taxpayers and government workers got proof in 2013 that politicians can’t be trusted to manage public-worker retirements. That’s when the Securities Exchange Commission charged Illinois with securities fraud. Now, Kansas joins Illinois and New Jersey as one of three states to face SEC civil charges for misleading investors about the health of their pension...

Over the last three decades, private-sector companies have transitioned away from traditional pension plans and toward 401(k)-style plans for their employees. While the traditional pension plans were unpredictable and unmanageable, these 401(k)-style plans offered companies a greater level of certainty in their budget and gave employees greater control over their retirement accounts. Today, 85 percent...

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...

Pennsylvania is the latest state to receive a Moody’s Investors Service credit downgrade. The drop was largely due to the state’s growing pension crisis. Moody’s issued the following statement with its credit downgrade of Pennsylvania to Aa3 from Aa2: “The downgrade of the general obligation rating to Aa3 reflects the commonwealth’s growing structural imbalance …...

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...

Illinois’ lawmakers often blame unions for the Illinois General Assembly’s inability to pass real pension reform. “The unions will never allow it” is the common chorus when it comes to proposing bold reforms like those recently passed in Oklahoma, which put nearly all new state workers on 401(k)-style plans, or those passed in many other...