This article covers the inauguration of the Illinois 98th General Assembly and the ongoing challenges they face, including the State’s critical unfunded pension liability. The Civic Federation said the State’s pension costs continue to divert funding away from other essential services.
The 97th Illinois General Assembly’s closing session ended on January 9, 2013, leaving many questions unresolved about the State’s current budget year and fiscal sustainability in the face of its $97 billion unfunded pension liability. At the end of each two-year legislative session, all of the bills not passed by both chambers of the General Assembly are cleared from the legislative agenda. Legislation must be filed under new bill numbers and the deliberative process must begin again in…
This Weekend Edition report covers Illinois’ $96 billion pension funding shortfall and efforts in the Illinois General Assembly to pass reforms before the new legislature is sworn in on January 9. The Civic Federation said delay by the General Assembly will make it more difficult and expensive to stabilize the State’s finances.
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article discusses a joint statement from several Chicago civic groups including the Civic Federation urging the Illinois legislature to take on pension reform during the last days of the 97th General Assembly, which ends when the new legislature convenes on January 9.
This blog discusses support from Chicago civic groups for the bipartisan pension reform framework outlined in House Bill 6528. The Civic Federation, Metropolitan Planning Council, Better Government Association and the Urban League held a press conference on January 3 calling on the Illinois General Assembly to move forward on comprehensive pension reform without delay.
At a press conference January 3, several Chicago civic groups including the Civic Federation urged Illinois legislators to act on pension reform in the final days of the legislative session. House Bill 6528 could immediately reduce the State’s required annual contributions by nearly $2 billion and calls for 100% funding of pension obligations by FY2043.
A pension reform proposal introduced in the Illinois General Assembly late last year could immediately reduce the State’s required annual contributions by nearly $2 billion, according to recent actuarial reports. As discussed here, a bipartisan group of legislators unveiled House Bill 6258 on December 5, 2012 as a way to help resolve the State’s pension funding crisis. HB6258 applies to four of the five State-funded pension systems: the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), the State Employees’…
Civic Federation, Metropolitan Planning Council, Better Government Assn., Chicago Urban League Seek Immediate Action CHICAGO—A group of civic organizations dedicated to improving government and making it more responsive to the public is calling on the Illinois General Assembly to take immediate action toward solving the State’s massive public pension crisis. The Civic Federation, Metropolitan Planning Council, Better Government Association and the Chicago Urban League are supporting this effort…
At a press conference on January 3, the Civic Federation joined with a group of other civic organizations including the Better Government Association, the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Chicago Urban League to urge the Illinois General Assembly to embrace the bipartisan pension reform framework established by House Bill 6258. The Federation co-authored and signed the following joint statement calling on the General Assembly to move forward on comprehensive pension reform without delay.…
Throughout this year’s Illinois budget negotiations, the IIFS blog was a valuable source of information and focus in the State’s murky and complex budget process. This year’s negotiations included a groundbreaking effort to address the Medicaid funding gap, new pension reform proposals and yet another downgrade to the State’s credit rating. Budget Negotiations The Institute started the year with a report projecting an alarming increase in the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. The report was…
