-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
The article has an error.
“Health care benefits, like pension payments, are a promise made by the state and local school districts but, unlike pensions, the benefits aren’t protected from diminishment by Illinois’ constitution.”
The IL Supreme Court ruled in Kanerva v Weems that the pension sentence added to the state constitution in 1970 applies to retiree healthcare and pensions.
You are correct.
Decades ago many teachers “Opted” out of S.S. and Medicare benefits and then they opted into a state and local pension and healthcare system (probably without voter approval). Federal governments can print money but states can only tax. This means that all their friends and neighbors are now footing the bill which are Rolls Royce pensions and (many multiples of S.S. payments) and Cadillac health plans not the ACA many rely on. By that same reasoning I will go out and buy a half dozen Tesla’s and “Opt” out of paying and send the bill to my neighbors . They… Read more »
“The state is providing retiree benefits even to a retired superintendent who’s making $150,000 or $200,000 a year in a pension and they get free healthcare on top of that,” Aldeman said. “That may not be a good use of public dollars.”
1. How long did it take this guy to come up with that eye-opening opinion?
2. So, retired IL teachers don’t pay any health care premiums? Yikes.