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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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Where is the IL Supreme Court now? The law takes effect in 12 hours and dozens, if not hundreds, of people will be arrested for crimes in tonight’s festivities statewide, and they should be aware of the confusion the lower court ruling has caused. Where is the worthless partisan Supreme Court?
Based upon the political structure of that court why would you expect a different outcome than the usual status quo?
The status quo is chaos. The destruction is intentional.
“Raoul immediately said he’d ask the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse that decision, and his office filed the official paperwork for that Friday.”“Raoul’s office said they would request an expedited schedule “early next week” with the state Supreme Court. A court representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.” He didn’t even file until yesterday and will ask for a date next week. The ILSC is under no obligation to take up this case at the speed at which you request. Those counties that disagreed with the law have been provided relief. Those that didn’t, also got what… Read more »
I didn’t request it. Kane and DuPage did.
Not sure if you can characterize citizens as getting what they “want” based on what their so-called legislative representatives did or failed to do. If citizens generally were as self-aware and corrupt as teachers’ unions, then their legislative representatives would be more likely to look out for their general wellbeing. We indulge in lots of legal fictions such as laws and law-enforcement deterring speeders or legislators representing their constituents. Speeders are mainly deterred by plaintiff lawyers suing them when they injure somebody and by having their insurance canceled. Legislators and judges and mayors, however, are immune to legal sanctions for… Read more »
“I think the operative legal fiction that you most often deploy here is that pension funding trumps all other government obligations.” I don’t do that. The law puts debt such as pensions at the front of the line. That’s the Illinois and US Constitution. “Logically that means all active Chicago teachers must be fired so that retired teachers get their pensions.” Nope. Logically that means that more taxes are needed if you don’t have enough discretionary spending to cut. “Meanwhile, labor contracts forbid …. inhibit the firing of incompetents” Nope again. No such language exists that prevents firing of incompetents.… Read more »
PPF, you can’t be serious. Labor contracts don’t inhibit firing incompetents? And the constitution establishes no payment priority for pensions.
Point to the language Mark for labor contracts. Also, the constitution does lay out that contracts can’t be impaired. So yes the constitution provides guidance as to priority. Contractual obligations will be honored well before political feel good spending initiatives. Discretionary spending holds no such protection. The Illinois Supreme Court has been clear about that very issue. Do you actually believe that pensions and debt don’t have priority? It’s you who can’t be serious. “A governmental entity can always find a use for extra money,” the Court observed, “especially when taxes do not have to be raised. If a State could reduce its… Read more »
That opinion is crap. The ILSC telling the legislature how to spend money? LOL all kinds of separation of powers issues there no one even talks about.
Someday the court is going to say “It’s inequitable to raise taxes on BIPOC to pay the pension of white retirees. BIPOC communities suffer the inequities of their tax revenue diverted to pay the former obligations of a systemically racist system. Put in place to protect those very same white retirees! Pensions slashed!”
Our laymans definition of incompetency doesn’t always match the legal definition of “for cause”. The CTU pays for the personal attorney of each and every fired CTU member who appeal their firings. The teachers that get fired are either insubordinate or breaking other established rules. CTU members don’t get fired for bad teaching and bad classroom outcomes.