Illinois Senate President John Cullerton has recently suggested that school districts should begin contributing a larger share of the employer contribution to the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois. President Cullerton noted that this change would relieve some of the financial pressure on the State, which has borrowed to make its pension payments for the past two years. He has also stated that it would lead school districts to more carefully consider the effects of their…
This article discusses public pension issues in the State of Wisconsin. It cites the Civic Federation's estimate of the per capita unfunded liabilities of certain public pension funds in Illinois.
In a roundtable discussion, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall discusses government employee pension reform.
For the second year in a row, the State of Illinois raised funds in the municipal bond market to make its annual pension contributions. On February 23, 2011, the State finalized the sale of $3.7 billion worth of Pension Obligation Bonds (POB) for FY2011. Similar to its FY2010 POB sale, Illinois’ bonds that sold last week were also oversubscribed, meaning more orders were placed for the bonds than the available supply. The State’s bond underwriters received $6.1 billion in orders for the…
This segment discusses Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral campaign. It cites the warning in the Civic Federation’s “Financial Challenges for the New Mayor of Chicago” report that the City of Chicago’s finances are in precarious shape. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall adds that the City will likely need a combination of pension reforms, tax increases and cuts to fix its budgetary troubles.
This article discusses the Civic Federation's support for Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle's FY2011 proposed budget, based in part on its moves to reduce the size of its operations. It mentions that the Federation has concerns about the County's pension obligations.
This column by Greg Hinz discusses the intricacies of pension benefits in Illinois and cites the Civic Federation’s “Status of Local Pension Funding Fiscal Year 2009: An Evaluation of Ten Local Government Employee Pension Funds in Cook County” report.
Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed FY2012 budget for the State of Illinois features additional borrowing and an overall increase in spending, despite steep spending reductions in the area of human services. The Governor’s FY2012 budget, issued on February 16, 2011, includes total operating resources of $33.9 million and total expenditures of $35.4 billion. In order to close the operating shortfall, the Governor’s plan uses $1.45 billion of the proceeds from a proposed $8.75 billion borrowing in…
(CHICAGO) The Civic Federation will announce its support for the proposed $3.0 billion FY2011 Cook County budget at a public hearing today. The plan cuts expenditures and employee headcount while committing to a full repeal of the sales tax increase. The full 61-page report is available on the Civic Federation website, www.civicfed.org. “The Civic Federation commends Board President Preckwinkle and her team for starting the long-overdue process of reforming Cook County operations,” said…
The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s $3.0 billion FY2011 Executive Budget Recommendation as it reflects a significant effort to reduce expenditures. The new County administration also appears to be on a path toward significant reform of governmental operations, as recommended by the Civic Federation in the Cook County Modernization report, which can be read here. The Civic Federation believes that the County still faces significant challenges. Although the recommended budget includes…
