This article covers the Civic Federation’s FY2014 State of Illinois Roadmap, which projects that Illinois’ pension costs would consume nearly one-third of State-generated revenue in FY2018 without pension reform. The report also projects the State’s backlog of unpaid bills could reach $22 billion in FY2018.
This article covers the Civic Federation’s FY2014 State of Illinois Roadmap, released February 25. The report projects a $22 billion backlog of unpaid bills by FY2018 if legislators don’t immediately enact comprehensive pension reform. The Civic Federation said Illinois will have to compromise key government services in order to make its future pension payments.
State urgently needs long-term plan to address rising pension and Medicaid costs, loss of income tax revenues (CHICAGO) – An analysis released today by the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability shows the State of Illinois is on track to accumulate nearly $22 billion in unpaid bills by FY2018 unless action is taken to curb rising pension costs and plan for increases in the Medicaid program. The five-year projections in the Federation’s FY2014 Budget Roadmap are…
Prior to the release of the Governor’s annual budget recommendation, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation releases an analysis of the State of Illinois’ fiscal condition. The FY2014 Roadmap includes a review of Governor Quinn’s three-year budget plan, a rough five-year budget projection for FY2014 to FY2018 and recommendations for the Governor and General Assembly to improve the state’s financial condition. The analysis shows the State on track to accumulate…
This article discusses pension reform legislation introduced by State Representative Lou Lang. The legislation would increase employee contributions and the retirement age while making the State’s temporary income tax increase permanent and calling for 80% funding of the pension systems in 50 years. The Civic Federation said an actuarial analysis by each of the State’s pension funds is necessary to determine potential savings of the plan.
This article discusses a contract agreement reached between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association. The agreement increases employee pension contributions and the retirement age while reducing automatic annual benefit increases and calling for 90 percent funding of the City’s public safety pension funds by 2040. The Civic Federation’s Status of Local Pension Funding report found that the Chicago Police pension fund was only 40 percent funded in FY2010.
This article chronicles the underfunding of Illinois’ pension systems from warnings by a Pension Laws Commission of inadequate State contributions in 1959 to the present day pension funding level of only 39 percent. The Civic Federation said the State’s pension funding crisis reflects a prolonged failure to consider the long-term consequences of fiscal decisions.
This article discusses Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s request that County officials and workers unions reach consensus within 30 days on a pension reform proposal to submit to the Illinois General Assembly. The Civic Federation’s most recent Cook County analysis highlights an alarming drop in the funded status of the County’s pension fund, from 74.7% in FY2002 to 57.5% in FY2011.
This article discusses Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s February 6 State of the State address where he repeated his call for legislators to make pension reform an immediate priority. The Civic Federation said the State’s pension crisis continues to increase the cost of borrowing and divert funding away from essential services.
(The full content of this article is only avalible to the publication's subscribers.) This article discusses the Illinois legislature’s inaction on the State’s $96 billion unfunded pension liability and examines the health of pension funds in other states. The Civic Federation said that courageous leadership and reasonable compromise are necessary to achieve fiscal sustainability for the State of Illinois and retirement security for its public employees.
