-- 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.
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Understandably, everyone comments on the state having to take initiative with possible violation of the contracts clause. Why not a federally assisted insurance program where individuals may waive their contract rights and join voluntarily? Illinois is apparently offering some cash-outs now. If directed by an individual who waives constitutional rights couldn’t Illinois contribute to funding the insurance also in consideration of the reduction of the system’s and the state’s liability?