Public Pensions’ Lost Decade – City Journal

Illinois’s annual pension contributions have now reached $9 billion on a $46 billion state budget, and even that’s not adequate to reduce the state’s debt. It’s so-called actuarially determined contribution—that is, the level at which deposits into its pension system would begin reducing the debt—is a mind-boggling $14 billion a year. That’s nearly a third of the state budget and a sum Illinois obviously can’t afford. On top of that, many taxpayers in the Prairie State live in municipalities with similar burdens. Chicago’s annual pension contribution is now more than $2 billion. For dozens of plans with gaping holes in their balance sheets, no quick solution exists, especially as Biden’s stimulus dollars fade. And with the latest market downturn, the problems just got worse.