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Two-thirds of recent "education" spending increase—$3.6 billion—went to teacher pensions instead of classrooms. Hiking state income taxes in the name of education would lead to more of the same, barring reform. Politicians can move forward with a constitutional amendment to adopt a pension tax, which would trigger a massive wealth transfer from taxpayers to government worker pensions. Or they can do the right, albeit difficult, thing and pursue a constitutional amendment to reform the state's pension clause to restore a balance between taxpayers and government workers.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Why would Crain’s endorse him then? No logic. Crain’s has become the poster child for reporters that don’t understand microeconomics.
It’s an op-ed piece by someone at IPI.
While I don’t disagree with the IPI author, couldn’t a progressive tax increase be worse than being a de facto pension tax? By this I mean – and the last two Illinois tax increases more or less prove the point – is that the additional tax revenue – which may be less than planned due to taxpayers with means voting with their feet – will not be spent on reducing pension liabilities but rather will be used to spend even more taxpayer money on politicians’ various projects – with the result that the operating deficits will be even greater than… Read more »