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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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“…transit users could face up to a 40% reduction in services, RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden said. When you’re carrying 63% of 2019 ridership with no uptick in sight, a 40% reduction in service would be sensible. Not to the political animals mismanaging these agencies, though. Confirming my earlier posts on this subject: “About 17% of the transit systems’ funding comes from the state, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. State law mandates half of the funding must come from rider fares, though that requirement has generally been suspended since the pandemic.” The Coof is ancient history, yet… Read more »
Looking at the photo that accompanies the article I must say that people in Chicago certainly seem quite well fed. Perhaps the needed transit money could be found in trimming food expenses out of the officials expense accounts.