« Ind. Law - "Hoosiers' tactic to squeeze O.J. Simpson defeated" | Main | Ind. Law - Indiana Lawyer James Bopp Jr. featured in Nov. ABA Journal »
Friday, November 03, 2006
Ind. Gov't. - "Illinois' pension nightmare"
"Illinois' pension nightmare: Funds for teachers, state workers face a $45.8 billion shortfall" is the lead story today in the Chicago Tribune. The lengthy report begins:
Illinois' next governor must grapple with a problem 30 years in the making: keeping retirement promises to more than 660,000 active and retired teachers and state workers.Years of scrimping on pension contributions coupled with benefit increases have turned the state into a poster child for a growing national problem.
Illinois, with an estimated $45.8 billion pension shortfall, has among the worst funding records in the country. From Connecticut to Oklahoma, pension obligations are threatening to overwhelm budgets, pinching states' ability to pay for pressing priorities such as education, transportation and health care.
Staying on track with a long-term plan to fix Illinois' pension problem will require the kind of tough choices that politicians have avoided for years.
Before the next governor's term ends in 2010, the required minimum annual contribution will have more than doubled from the current fiscal year to nearly $4 billion. That's about equal to the current year's projected outlay for state aid for elementary and secondary schools.
"The size of the growing pension contribution needs will swamp all other priorities in a very short time," said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a non-partisan watchdog group.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 3, 2006 02:26 PM
Posted to Indiana Government