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.
The byline is misleading. Jim Dixon was/is also the President of Central Illinois Trades & Labor Council and AFSCME Local 2600 member, so he stands to directly benefit financially from any tax hike. The mention of Faith Coalition for the Common Good implies he’s some man of the cloth or his motives are altruistic.