This article discusses today’s action by the Arizona Supreme Court ruling pension changes for its retired judges unconstitutional. Illinois’ recent pension reforms, impacting all State public employee pension funds except for retired judges, are also being challenged in court. The Civic Federation said the severity of the State’s fiscal crisis will be the backdrop of any ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court.
This article examines Chicago’s growing debt load due to unfunded pension liabilities and ongoing borrowing. The Civic Federation said Chicago’s level of debt is unsustainable and the City is short on time to find a solution. The article cites the Civic Federation’s Status of Local Pensions and Financial Indicators reports, which respectively highlight the declining health of the City’s pension funds and Chicago’s fiscal performance relative to other cities.
This article discusses the findings of several reports that focus on the unfunded liabilities of Chicago, Cook County and State of Illinois pension funds. It cites the Civic Federation’s annual Status of Local Pension Funding report, which has followed the sharp decline of ten Chicago-area pension funds throughout the past decade.
In the fall of 2011, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed and Governor Lincoln Chafee signed landmark pension reform legislation intended to end a pension funding crisis and make retirement obligations for public employees more sustainable for the state and many local governments. To learn more about Rhode Island Retirement Security Act of 2011 (RIRSA) reforms, see this Civic Federation blog post from 2012.[1] The legislation went into effect July 1, 2012 and its primary provisions include…
This article discusses a recent survey by Morningstar that estimated public employee pension debt per-Chicagoan at $18,596. The Civic Federation said the per-capita number would be higher if it included the CTA, Chicago Park District, Cook County Forest Preserve District and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District pension funds; as evidenced by the sharp funding decline tracked in the Federation’s annual Status of Local Pensions report.
The State of Illinois’ new pension law is expected to reduce statutorily required State contributions by $144.9 million over 30 years and lower its unfunded pension liability by about $24 billion, according to actuarial reports from the largest retirement systems. An analysis of the actuarial reports can be found in a document issued on January 24, 2014 in connection with the State’s planned sale of General Obligation bonds in February. The reports provide the first formal assessment of the…
Although the most significant change in Illinois’ new pension law consists of a reduction in annual benefit increases paid to current and future retirees, the legislation also requires the State to commit additional funding to the retirement systems through a series of supplemental payments that could total more than $40 billion. The additional funding is intended to go above and beyond the State’s annual contributions, which are now required to be calculated using more generally accepted…
Despite savings from recently enacted pension reforms, the State of Illinois’ finances could still worsen considerably after income tax increases are partially phased out as scheduled beginning in 2015, according to a report by Governor Pat Quinn’s office. The three-year general operating budget projection by the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) and an accompanying economic and fiscal policy report show the State’s operating deficit increasing from $1.9 billion in FY2015 to $4…
This article discusses whether the Chicago Park District pension reforms signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn on January 7 could serve as a framework for other local governments in need of pension reform. In its FY2014 Chicago Park District Budget Analysis the Civic Federation said the Park District’s budget lays the groundwork for enacting pension reforms and praised the District for presenting its own reform plan to lawmakers.
States inevitably face lawsuits when they attempt to ease budgetary pressures by cutting pension payments to current employees and retirees. While the legal battle over Illinois’ new pension law has just begun, courts have already issued rulings on similar pension changes in other states. Like Illinois, other states have enacted pension laws that rely on savings from reductions in annual benefit increases. Court decisions on whether states have the ability to reduce these cost-of-living…
