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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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Mark, I recall you’ve reviewed the statutes in question in some detail. Do you think the city has any case here that they were denied due process?
I don’t think it’s a due process issue but, instead, a question of how you calculate the numbers. There’s some vagueness in the statute and how pensions report this, making the dispute predictable.
This will be fun to watch. Democrat on Democrat law-fare, at public expense. Rather fixing the fundamental imbalance between pension obligations, other government spending and revenue, this dysfunctional state Democratic legislature passes a law to appease state and local employee pension funds with a law at the expense of those that expect other government services. The law basically mandates squeezing blood out of a rock. As predicted by Wirepoints this is diversion from the real problem. Maybe there are a couple of law firms led by senior legislative leaders that could be available to represent the city for exorbitant hourly… Read more »