Illinois has 43 percent of the nation’s public pension plans, according to a 2012 study published by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, conducted by Marquette Associates on local police and fire pensions in Illinois. According to publicly available data, there are 1,511 public pension plans in the United States. With 657...
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...
Lawmakers met in Springfield on Tuesday for a special session on pension reform. After an early morning committee hearing, a gathering of each of the four legislative caucuses and several hours of lengthy floor debates, a pension bill passed the House and Senate, and now awaits Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature. The Illinois Policy Institute adamantly...
The Illinois General Assembly sent a pension bill to Gov. Pat Quinn. It is important to be clear about what this bill is and is not. Let’s start with what this bill is not. This bill is not the sweeping reform that Illinois has been waiting – fighting – for over the past few years....
Madigan’s new pension “fix” does nothing to address the problems with the current pension system. Here’s another reason why Illinois teachers should urge their legislators to vote “no”: the new pension bill does nothing to address the unfair distribution of pensions under the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS. Amazingly, the pension a teacher in TRS...
For 33 years, Clyde Tome served the city of Detroit as a firefighter. Every day he was on duty he knew his life was on the line; in one encounter with riot fires, Tome watched a colleague die. Another time, he saw a nearby fireman killed in a random shooting. For his commitment, Tome counted...
Though House Speaker Mike Madigan claims his new pension proposal will save $160 billion over 30 years, much of what the Speaker calls “pension reform” is little more than a mix of accounting changes and a plan to commandeer more taxpayer funds. Madigan needed to find more savings since this version of his bill allows...
One of the biggest flaws in the pension “reform” proposals that have come out of Springfield has been “pension-funding guarantees” – provisions that would contractually obligate the state to fund public pension systems. The problem with any pension funding guarantee is that it commits taxpayers to spending that could lead to higher taxes, render the...
The 401(k) option is a fake: The bill says that some people would be allowed to participate in a 401(k)-style plan. But participation in the 401(k) option is limited to 5 percent of Tier 1 members (which includes members who were hired before 2011). Once 5 percent of these members are in the plan, it...
Lawmakers are touting the 401(k) element in House Speaker Mike Madigan’s proposed pension reform bill. But a close look at the bill shows this 401(k) option is a disaster waiting to happen. Participation in the 401(k) plan is limited to 5 percent of Tier 1 membership (meaning workers hired before 2011) on a first-come, first-serve...
REPORTS Pension Solutions: reforming retirement age More than 50% of Illinois government pensioners retired at age 59 or younger. Read more… Pension Solutions: cost-of-living adjustments are supersizing state pensions More than 8,000 Illinois government retirees receive more than $100,000 in annual pension benefits. Read more… Illinois’ pension system lacks transparency Actuarial data need to be...
For 33 years, Clyde Tome served the city of Detroit as a firefighter. Every day he was on duty he knew his life was on the line; in one encounter with riot fires, Tome watched a colleague die. Another time, he saw a nearby fireman killed in a random shooting. For his commitment, Tome counted...
There’s immense pressure on Illinois legislators to pass a pension bill. With the state pension system nearing insolvency and credit agencies warning of further downgrades, the perceived wisdom is that any pension fix, no matter how small, is a “step forward” that must be passed. But when it comes to pension reform in Illinois, that...
The General Assembly Retirement System, which provides pensions to retired legislators, is broke.