Does anyone see where this may be going?
ILLINOIS’ PENSION PAYMENT SET TO INCREASE BY ANOTHER $1 BILLION NEXT YEAR
By Jonathan Ingram, Illinois Policy Institute -
For the second year in a row, the state’s annual pension payment will increase by nearly $1 billion. The combined payment for all five state pension systems will increase to $6.8 billion next year, up from $5.9 billion this year.
Annual payments for Illinois’ five pension systems per year, in millions
Illinois ended fiscal year 2012 with an unfunded pension liability of $95 billion. Under new pension accounting rules, the state’s pension debt will grow to more than $209 billion.
Illinois’ pension systems are broke and could soon be insolvent. None of the systems have enough assets on hand to pay benefits to those who have already retired, let alone those still working. Only major reforms, like those centered on defined-contribution plans and those tackling the automatic cost-of-living adjustment, can get the problem under control.
Unfortunately, we need leaders with balls at the head of the ship. Instead, we have Quinn, Madigan, and Cullerton; they all want to remain in office, and so will do nothing. They haven't done anything for years; why will they start now?
ReplyDeleteThere are many, many political hacks in the 19th ward who have helped cause this disaster.
ReplyDelete