The Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System’s actuarial changes will drive up taxpayer contributions by $421 million in 2017. These latest changes prove Illinois’ pension math doesn’t work.

Illinois’ public colleges and universities used to be affordable, but schools have increased tuition from 74-112 percent over the last decade to help pay for administrative hiring sprees and skyrocketing pensions.

Retirement ages, COLAs and out-of-sync pension payouts

Concept of “consideration” allows state workers to negotiate for new benefits and could pave a path toward pension reform.

Skyrocketing pensions, bloated administrations are pricing students out of college degrees

The crisis threatens to burden taxpayers with massive, ever-escalating taxes to bail out a system that is not sustainable – government-worker pensions consume a fourth of the state’s budget.

Since 2009, 89 cents of every new dollar for education goes to teacher pensions

Taxpayers pay once for state politicians’ salaries and another 1.5 times for their bankrupt pension system. In 2017, taxpayers will contribute the equivalent of nearly $123,000 for each lawmaker just to keep the General Assembly Retirement System afloat.

The outsized benefits received by retired government workers under the State Universities Retirement System and the unfair burden this places on taxpayers demonstrate the urgent need to reform Illinois’ government-worker pensions.