Social Security

Pension benefits of Chicago workers

By Benjamin VanMetre
07/21/2014
The problem Opponents of pension reform at the state and local level often argue that the average government-worker pension is modest. In a May 2011 commentary, government union chiefs Ken Swanson and Henry Bayer wrote that “at the end of a working life devoted to public service, an Illinois teacher, firefighter or librarian retires with...

TAGS: Chicago, labor

Saving Chicago: Pension reform without tax hikes

By John Klingner, Benjamin VanMetre
04/03/2014
Chicago politicians have exploited city-worker pensions for nearly two decades. They’ve used the city’s pension systems as slush funds and pension benefits as bargaining chips to further their own agenda, with seemingly no regard for Chicago’s fiscal health. Now those pension systems are nearly insolvent and the city is heading toward bankruptcy. Chicago is facing...

Halfway through review, Illinois Medicaid eligibility error rate at nearly 60%

By Jonathan Ingram
01/07/2014
Illinois’ Medicaid program has long been plagued with wasteful spending. The U.S. Government Accountability Office designates Medicaid as a high-risk program, largely because it is “particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments” and has inadequate oversight to prevent wasteful spending. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, reports an improper payment...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Maximus, Medicaid

Pension reform: Institute’s work on 401(k)s

By Chris Andriesen
12/04/2013
Illinois’ pensions are among the worst-funded in the nation. The state has just 40 cents for every $1 that has been promised in benefits, and many government workers are concerned that they do not have choice and control over their own retirement. Illinois should not be forced to leave their retirement to the whims of...

Unions block Medicaid scrub that could’ve saved state $350M a year

By Paul Kersey
11/29/2013
It wouldn’t be entirely fair to say that government unions exist solely to make government less effective and more expensive, but sometimes that’s just exactly what they do. One blatant example came a few weeks ago, when American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 pushed the state into abandoning its contract with...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, fraud, Maximus, Medicaid, waste

Pension solutions: Cost-of-living adjustments are supersizing state pensions

By John Klingner
11/26/2013
THE PROBLEM Illinois’ five state-run pension funds are more than $100 billion in debt, according to official state numbers. Without major reforms, the funds are headed toward insolvency – and that means retirees may see their pensions cut and younger workers may not have a pension at all. One of the biggest forces behind this...

State pension contributions: Taxpayers bear the brunt of increasing pension costs

By John Klingner
09/25/2013
The problem A common refrain sounded by public sector unions is that government workers have consistently “paid their share” into Illinois’ pension systems and the state has not. However, the facts tell a different story. While government worker contributions to Illinois’ five pension systems have increased by 75 percent since 1998, taxpayer contributions have increased...

TAGS: GARS: General Assembly Retirement System, JRS: Judges’ Retirement System, SERS: State Employee Retirement System, SURS: State Universities Retirement System, TRS: Teachers’ Retirement System