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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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Doesn’t ILSC have a duty to rule according to law, not out of concern for the state’s credit rating?
So the ILSC didn’t fall for this gimmick to invalidate debt??? It’s almost as if the court can see through these attempts to remove debt as pure fantasy. I’m sure the vote was close? Oh wait….it was unanimous. Reminds me of another unanimous decision. I’m sure the next attempt to reduce debt through some other legal maneuver will work though.
The case was not decided on the merits. It was decided solely on laches, which was a reasonable basis for the decision but has nothing to do with whether the case was a “gimmick.” Note that the court did not say that the case was frivolous or malicious, which the state had claimed. The appellate court, too, had said the case was not frivolous or malicious.
The gimmick was waiting 16 years and then thinking you can invalidate the debt. This court has been clear that gimmicks won’t be allowed. If a debt is owed by the state then it must be paid. Everything else is just a legal maneuver that ends up with the same outcome.
All you gotta do is move away to invalidate your share. Let those who remain pay the bill.