-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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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Is state gaurenteed they get fed funds, fed matching funds? Or is getting all thoes $billions in fed funds wishfull planning? How does that work?
My understanding is that the federal match funding formula is pretty well-known and the process is transparent, so I doubt this could be gamed. One risk we are taking, however, is that Congress comes trough with its own infrastracture program, that many want, which may have better terms for the state than it using now.