-- 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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Here is some pertinent from one of the city’s bond offerings. “GRS projects that, should the City be required to adopt pay-as-you-go funding to ensure that payments to beneficiaries are made to MEABF and LABF beneficiaries following the insolvency of such Retirement Funds, the City’s contributions to such Retirement Funds would increase substantially. With respect to MEABF, GRS projects that pay-as-you-go funding would increase the City’s contribution from approximately $208 million in 2025 to $1.107 billion in 2026, $1.607 billion in 2042 and $1.581 billion in 2060.”