By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
Every few months it seems former Gov. Jim Edgar is trotted out by the Illinois media as an example of a “good” lawmaker from a bygone era. The main reason: his willingness to “compromise.”
From Edgar’s most-recent interview: “If you have policies that are designed as a result of compromise, that means a lot of different points of view are going to be at the table, and that policy is probably going to reflect a lot of different points of view, and I think can be more acceptable to the public.”
But for Edgar and many other Illinois’ political elite, compromise has never meant compromise in the way that makes democracy run well. Instead, it’s always meant public sector union demands being forced onto ordinary Illinoisans. That means taxes only going up and not down, government costs rising faster than they should, and “reforms” that end up as little more than band-aids that make Illinois’ situation worse.
In other words, shut up and pay up.
Edgar’s biggest compromise
The former governor’s signature pension legislation of 1994, the “Edgar Ramp,” helped decimate the retirement security of state government workers.
Of course the whole pension crisis shouldn’t be pinned on Edgar. He had plenty of accomplices who made things worse. But it was his “compromise” policies, made in partnership with then-House Speaker Mike Madigan, that set the stage for many of Illinois’ problems.
Edgar originally touted his reform plan as the solution to the state’s then-$17 billion pension problem: “We had a time bomb in our retirement system that was going to go off in the first part of the 21st century,” Edgar told The State Journal-Register in 1994. “This legislation defuses that time bomb.”
It accomplished the opposite.
Edgar’s plan did nothing to structurally reform pensions. There were no benefit changes or reductions in perks – nothing that actually slowed down pension benefit growth or cut how much Illinois owed to the pension funds. Instead, the compromise deal created the infamous “ramp” that pushed paying off the state’s pension obligations all the way out to 2045.
The payment ramp was heavily backloaded. The state’s pension payments were artificially low in the first 15 years – which meant Edgar and his successor would have easy payments to make – then rapidly ramped up over the next 35 years.
Edgar says he hoped that the state economy would grow enough to make the required future payments easier for following generations. That, of course, didn’t happen.
Edgar’s compromises led to more pension benefits, not less
Gov. Edgar didn’t just fail to reform pension benefits during his term, he actively increased them.
Edgar even bragged about it. He said he “…approved the most significant increase in pension benefits for state workers in a quarter century” and that, “a concerted effort was made to improve state employee benefits and make a career in government service more attractive.”
The pension formula for public sector workers was made far more generous, with only a limited increase in employee contributions required in exchange. Edgar also expanded the state’s healthcare benefits and added new sick leave pension benefits. As a result, the total pension benefits owed to government workers actually doubled during Edgar’s term.
Since then, total benefits have continued to grow at a rate Illinoisans can’t afford.
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Illinois lawmakers’ distorted version of “compromise” is how Illinois became an extreme outlier in overall tax rates, state worker pay, pension benefits, COLAs, retiree health insurance costs, and more. All that’s likely to become more extreme if Pritzker and others are successful in pushing the upcoming Nov. 2022 ballot initiative that will give the public sector unions even more bargaining power.
Forget Edgar’s definition of compromise. Illinois can’t afford anything less than deep, structural reforms that bring public sector costs in line with what residents can actually afford.
That’s the real compromise Illinoisans need.
Read more about Illinois’ long-running problems:
- Illinois lawmakers want to cement union powers into the state constitution
- New Kiplinger report crowns Illinois as nation’s “Least Tax-Friendly State” for middle-class families
- Illinois pension shortfall surpasses $500 billion, average debt burden now $110,000 per household
- How Illinois’ police and fire pension consolidation bill went from good to bad
- Why Jim Edgar Has Zero Credibility on Illinois Pensions: It’s Not Just the ‘Edgar Ramp’
- Why Your Pension Is Doomed – WSJ
- Former Gov Edgar bragged about increasing state pension benefits when he left office
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
The one issue that I never see discussed about Edgar’s term was the growth in IL prisons in Central and Southern Illinois.
From my very rough count I have 7 institutions that were built during his tenure, must likely in “Republican” territories. Where did this money come from? Did the pension ramp alleviate these funds?
Has there ever been an accounting of how expensive these operations were and were they all necessary?
All of those AFSCME employees hired in the 90’s, to work at those facilities, are probably entering retirement age now.
Prisons built in “Republican” territories, far away from “Democrat” neighborhoods. Let’s face it, no one wants prisons in their backyards, least of which are rich progressives.
Nor, do Rino’s want to have prisons closed in their districts.
Here’s an article about closing SuperMax Tamms( Built in ‘95 under Edgar) in Rep. district:
https://www.kfvs12.com/story/18830028/memo-from-i/
Crime was out of control in the 90’s. Locking up all those criminals reduced crime significantly. There’s no debate over this anymore after seeing crime rise as jails and prisons become revolving doors.
what,crimes not out of control right now!?-the scumbags need to be locked in a cage!-i know,i know,theyre all victims,poor,poor welfare scumbags,to lazy to work,to much of a low life to contribute to society,rather suck off the welfare system and sling drugs
Kinda shocking how Jim Edgar seems to have no remorse over his obscene malfeasance as Gov. Certainly a note of his character.
Name one time Illinois Democrats compromised on anything. I dare you. Compromise always seems to mean Republicans signing on to the Dem agenda in exchange for a few crumbs if that. Somehow, Republicans are always smeared as evil partisans, but the same is never applied to the leftists.
-30-
This is the latest school contract info for Rockford. Total cost over 4 years is $594M of which roughly 60% is paid for by local taxpayers/30% state/10% federal. Per pupil is over $17K+ vs private at $7K to $9K. Here is tuition cost for Boylan which is half of Rockford Dist 205 where graduate Virgil Abloh just recently died.
https://www.boylan.org/enrollment/affordability/tuition-and-fees
https://www.rps205.com/205vibe/205-vibe-news/defult-post-page-clone-clone-clone/~board/news/post/rps-205-teachers-agree-to-4-year-contract
D205 also picks-up the entire employee pension contribution.
Thanks. That would be $55.83M additional pension pickup over the 4 year contract on top of the regular salaries. It’s amazing how generous they are with our money.
What’s important is if district includes the pension pickup when they communicate salaries to the public. Look at the salary schedule and there are two salaries for each step and lane. Which number does the district use? Because if they don’t include the pickup, they’re not being forthright w/ the public.
Jim Edgar and the combine drove this state into a ditch. Illinois is owned by the public unions and we are their serfs. Political corruption and malfeasance to the max. Outrageous.
A primary reason our state is such a financial disaster is that Republicans lacked the courage to buck the Democrats in years past. It is easy to blame Democrats for what they did — but the problem also is what Republicans have failed to do.
totally agree,just a bunch of ” go along,to get along” rinos-weak and worthless,ALL of em!-vote all sitting republicans out cuz they dont do crap for ANY republican voters!
John Kass has written about the combine for years. We do need compromise, but not the type of insider compromise cretins like Edgar propose. His lack of conviction and political will started the snowball rolling towards our financial insolvency. Then the debt became so big that no governor would ever take measures to reign in out of control spending and pension debt. It’s a recipe for losing an election. We have a well heeled public employee and political class and the rest of us pay the freight. These people make far more than the average taxpayer who funds their generous… Read more »
But they got a Master’s degree to teach 1st grade (often paid for at public expense), so obviously they deserve the largesse.
I’m a big believer in unions, but these public employee uni9ms need their wings clipped. Teachers should not be allowed to strike. There need to be caps on pension benefits for all state employees. No one should get a pension more than 100,000 a year. ideally, we take present funding levels, do the math, and calculate what the max pension could be. It may have to be lower than 100,000. Those with pensions below the max should remain untouched, but the 3% annual increase needs to stopped. Social Security goes by CPI. Any lifetime insurance benefits need to be cut.… Read more »
You’re such a dreamer, my friend. There are various impediments to doing nearly every proposal you’ve suggested with many of them based upon both the U. S. and IL Constitutions. You may like the freedom of thinking you could snap your fingers and have all your arbitrary, capricious wishes immediately come true as the King of IL, but you aren’t. Dream on, though, if it brings you happiness. The rest of us will try to deal with the real world.
Actually, James, the “impediments” to truly mitigating Illinois’ pestilential bankruptcy of finances and governance are only that – impediments. It’s not as if fixing things is impossible because there’s no “snap your fingers” option. Problem is, I believe that the foundational challenge to “fixing things” begins with ending public apathy and ignorance. That’s going to be like rolling a big rock up a very steep hill. Publications such as Wirepoints are a push in the right direction. Sadly, however, the fact is that despite hard work and best intentions Wirepoints-n-Illinois Policy – et al – haven’t been able to disenthrall… Read more »
Sure, change likely is not impossible—just not easy, immediate and probably having to be done incrementally, too. My earlier posting was my reaction to the do-all-these-things-and-right-now apparent attitude of the writer. His wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am demands failed to even acknowledge the huge political and legal hurdles required to do even one of them, let alone doing all of them as a package deal. Be at least a bit thankful if IL state government makes any progress at all in the “near” term in solving the pension funding issues.
To me, the advanced degree scam has always been the thing that really shows how disconnected the teachers are from the real work world. I have been an accountant for 30 years. If I got a Master’s in Accounting (at my own expense), my boss would congratulate me. The end. There would be no automatic raise for the rest of my career. But teachers use it as a reason why they should be paid more. And despite all the Masters and Doctorates among 1st and 2nd grade teachers, they can’t seem to teach kids to read and do basic math.… Read more »
Wowza. Are you tapping my phone? Lol… I’m a guiltless public employee with a summer house in Indiana. Yes I have health insurance too. But no, I don’t live in a safe community. I live in Chicago. Hence the desire to get away to my summer/weekend house. Unlike most, I am forced to live in Chicago if I desire to retain my current employment. But the thing is, I actually like my job. I fix broken water mains. It is brutally hard physical work though I would gladly take a pay/retirement cut if allowed to not have to reside in… Read more »
Well said. Sadly, it’s now to late for any fixing – Illinois is unfixable.
This is the SAME person who is triple dipping in pensions + get COL INCREASE on all 3. Left state as did entire family
Sadly, I doubt that the pestilential Illinois public employee pension mess is going to improve in our lifetimes, if ever. Retiree benefits have been, and will long continue to be paid, without regard to the “sometime in the future thus-n-such-a-terrible-thing-is-going-to-happen” predictions. Since actual pension solutions are fraught with painful consequences for everyone – taxpayers, retirees, bondholders, politicians – too many people consider predictions of imminent pension disaster as “news” of a kind with the decades of “scientist” climate-change warnings that the world’s going to end week after next. The citizenry is willing to concede that “scientists” are more or less… Read more »
Residents throughout the state know our finances are a mess. They may not be familiar wit the specifics, but they know it’s bad. My theory is that most people plan on leaving the state before the final bill comes due. Those that stay are either too poor to care or too rich to care. which makes sense because the middle class residents – the natives – are leaving.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-middle-class-shrinking-as-property-taxes-shoot-to-record-levels/
This is a bit old but I imagine it’s only accelerated.
No, actually, I think quite a number don’t yet actually believe that Illinois’ finances are really a mess. Not in a, “Gosh, I have to do something about this” sort of way. If it were otherwise, using one example, Illinois eligible voter turnout wouldn’t have been only 40% to 70% over the last five or six years. Voters continue to vote politicians into office knowing it’ll be more of the same, or they do nothing, because they still don’t believe that their personal ox will ever be gored. If we’re not able to persuade these people to think differently very… Read more »
I guess we can agree to disagree. One of the reasons why there is low voter turnout is because of demoralization. More than half of all IL legislative races are uncontested, and most democrat races involve two democrats trying to out progressive each other. There’s no way to affect change when every seat is gerrymandered into D districts with people who Vote Blue No Matter Who. But this doesn’t change the fact that most know IL is messed up financially. But many voters vote only to ‘get theirs’ ie the free stuff army and they will keep getting it while… Read more »
It’s like when they trot out the Excelon/Com Ed former CEO that was a “conservative”. He isn’t
Edgar was a shill, not a leader.
Edgar trying to save face as the unfunded pension and benefits bubble gets ready to burst all over Illinoisans. Don’t bother Jim, we all blame you.
Anyone who voted for Biden is not a Republican. They’re not even a RINO. They are a Democrat. No lifelong Republican looked at Biden and thought – wow, this man will abide by conservative values. Sharing Biden’s values and voting for Biden is what makes you a Democrat.
Just switch parties already Jim if you’re reading this. They’ll be no lost love. Maybe you can get a job on WGN bashing the Republican Party. Or better yet, the Lincoln Project…
https://www.wbez.org/stories/former-gov-edgar-and-other-moderate-illinois-republicans-say-theyll-vote-for-joe-biden/2cf9e1d9-b7f7-4848-bbfd-5f41791a8813
Former Gov. Edgar And Other Moderate Illinois Republicans Say They’ll Vote For Joe Biden
My comment from three years ago still stands. It reminds me Edgar also contributed to the so-called “teacher shortage” by letting them retire 5+ years earlier than they would have otherwise. It’s hard to pick which pension enhancement hurt the most, but I think it’s the 2.2 service year multiplier. It immediately slashed 4 years off a teaching career to get to full vesting (38 to 34 years), but it’s really an 8 year swing considering it’s 4 more years of collecting a pension and 4 less years of making contributions into the pension system. Of the 114,000 TRS pensions,… Read more »
Edgar was nothing but a** kisser to the mob. He and his phony deputy governor pillsbury dough boy Dillard gave highly paid state jobs to the grand Avenue outfit crew with the ok of crooked Janis Cellini. He is laughable and needs to be in jail with Kirk Dillard.
I might suggest that Edgar gave us the “Edgar Ramp” pablum that more or less said that we wont fully fund pensions today but will make up for that deficit tomorrow. Edgar probably assumed he would be dead before the ax of reality struck but, as we know now, Edgar is alive among us as Illinois suffers in the quagmire he put upon the State citizenry. Today as he basks in certain circles that portray him as a great politician I often wonder is he really so inept as to believe that hoopla or is he just another devious Illinois… Read more »
If I’m not mistaken during the Edgar ramp and pension holidays the taxpayers were still paying into the pension system via property and others taxes. Some of it was either total or partial pension pickup for the school districts but I don’t recall seeing a reduction in my taxes. Many of the pension pickups are within the teachers contracts and those contracts were never rewritten to show that the taxpayers paid less or owed less.There was no Edgar reduction ramp for taxpayers so where did all that money go? How many millions was diverted away to other thing like healthcare… Read more »
Freddy, you are on the money trail. Paradoxically, whenever the money didn’t make it to pensions, it worsened the crisis doubly. First, the funding ratio by definition worsened. But second, most of the money that didn’t go to pensions often ended up as money for higher salaries, which pushed up pension obligations further. The money also often went to new programs, which also beefed up the pension obligations if new workers were added. From a piece John and I did back in the day, CPS pensions: From retirement security to political slush fund: According to the Chicago Tribune: “Diana Ferguson,… Read more »
Yes, much is said about outrageously high pensions and much less about unduly high teacher salaries for working considerably less hours per year than private sector workers. As you noted, both components contribute significantly to the oppressive taxpayer burden. Another related culprit is the multi-year contracts for teachers, when combined with prorated step increases, result in average yearly salary rate increases higher than the vast majority of private sector workers.
Ted- I think one way to narrow down where the money allocated to pension went during the Edgar ramp time frame is to compare one school or police/fire contract to another contract. Basically every contract is larger than the previous one even if it is 1 or 2% per year. So the raises they received are from taxpayers via property tax increases and maybe not from diverting pension money to raises or benefits. They are probably separate items. It’s possible the pension money went to balance the budget or political pet projects. Regardless the money was still allocated (on paper)… Read more »
His ramp allowed multiple government agencies to pay out raises they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford had they made larger pension contributions, which in turn exacerbated the pension deficit.