In the midst of Illinois’ pension crisis, River Forest District 90 has agreed to pay 100 percent of teacher contributions to the Teachers' Retirement System – and it did so secretly.
Through collective bargaining agreements with the state, government-worker unions require access to workers’ social security numbers – even if those workers are not members of the union. A bill protecting worker privacy recently failed to get enough votes to pass out of committee.
Although the battle for the budget drags on, there were several important legislative wins for Illinoisans in 2016 including criminal justice reform, averting tax hikes, and stopping Madigan’s agenda in the lame duck session.
Government-worker union officials filed papers with the Illinois General Assembly in favor of the “pension holiday” that contributed to the state’s $111 billion pension debt.
While the state moves to impose costly new requirements on private businesses in the name of privacy, the state is itself violating the privacy of thousands of Illinoisans.
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.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.