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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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Absolutely horrible plan for state employees and retirees. If that was ever part of Pritzger’s base then he just betrayed them big time. In return for a measly, one-time contribution to the pension funds of $2 billion – paid for by borrowing – this plan cuts required annual state contributions, relative to current law, by $800 million annually. If and when the constitutional progressive tax amendment passes, then this $800 million annual reduction will be reduced to “only” $600 million. So the bottom line is that Pritzker will seek to increase taxes by many billions of dollars annually, and instead… Read more »
Interesting. Quite a bit of reaction like that from the left in Illinois.