Monday, May 13, 2013
Illinois state officials, non-profit administrators and union representatives will offer perspectives during the Illinois Pension Forum starting 4:30 p.m. Monday in Orland Park. Join us for our live blog and weigh in.
A forum on Illinois pension issues will be held 4:30 p.m. Monday at Century Junior High, 10801 W. 159th St. in Orland Park. The following people are scheduled to speak: Join us for our live blog and offer your own thoughts on the points discussed. Patch’s live blog through Cover It Live will provide minute-by-minute updates from the meeting on this page starting at 4:30 p.m. Look in the Cover It Live window above, and you’ll see an area where you can join in and offer your comments and questions. The same rules apply as on finished articles on the site. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Join Patch! Create a free user account and join the discussion about the future of the area. You'll be subscribed to the free daily newsletter and breaking …
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Illinois House Thursday approved a controversial plan to eliminate the state's $100 billion pension debt.
By Steven Jack The Illinois Senate may soon vote on House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform plan that passed the House Thursday. The bill passed by a vote of 62-51 and seeks to eliminate the state’s $100 billion retirement system debt. Illinois ranks dead last in the nation when it comes to funding its public pension plan, according to WBEZ. The bill asks state workers for less in future cost-of-living increases, an increase in the retirement age for workers under the age of 46 and asks for more money to be taken from state employee paychecks. The bill may have difficulty making it through the Senate where Senate Leader John Cullerton supports a different plan that gives workers the option of pay increases or government-funded …
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Watch a brief video rundown of recent action in Springfield that could have an impact on your tax bill and money for local schools.
What's happening in Springfield now regarding the state pension crisis will have a long-term impact on your tax bills and the money the state government can afford to send to local schools. Teachers and bus drivers in the suburbs are getting layoff notices and schools are closing in the city of Chicago as the governor projects a cut of $300 million from the state education budget. This week, the Illinois House passed a bill that would trim cost-of-living payments for public retirees. The House previously passed a bill that raises the state employee retirement age incrementally. It's unlikely those measures will pass the Senate, leaving the pension crisis unresolved. Our friends at Reboot Illinois, a non-partisan news and advocacy website…
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Despite 2011's 67 percent state income tax hike — which took a week's pay away from you — the state's financial problems have worsened.
Illinois now has the lowest credit rating of all 50 states. Standard & Poor’s rating services downgraded Illinois’ credit rating last week to A-, with a negative outlook. State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who blamed the negative rating on inaction on the public pension system by Gov. Pat Quinn and the General Assembly, said Illinois is headed for "fiscal disaster." He said the lower rating will force the state to fork over more money on interest payments. This will affect state universities, road construction and other public institutions because more will go to interest than principal as these projects are paid for. “If you went out to borrow $500 because you have such bad credit, it will cost $95 more in interest than better-rated states…
Saturday, January 19, 2013
State government grows in the dark, like a fungus. • Bill Daley has an idea to take the party out of state elections. • Time magazine mourns for Illinois.
When Gov. Pat Quinn took office in 2009, he promised to take aim at state boards and commissions stocked with politically connected folks drawing large salaries with little oversight into their activities. He would pare down those panels and save you money. Better Government Association investigative reporter Barbara Rose this month looked into whether Quinn delivered: "... more than three years into Quinn’s watch little has changed, except the number of such units is growing. As troubling, many don’t comply with the Illinois Open Meetings Act, according to a report last year by state Auditor General William Holland." In fact, the governor's office is having a hard time keeping up with it all. "With over 322 boards and commissions, …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
The representatives and senators leaving office in January 2013 will see millions of dollars in pension payments, figures far more sizable than they would've seen in the private sector.
Are you worried about your own retirement? With the downturn in the economy, did your 401k and savings take a big hit? If so, you're like millions of other Americans forced to confront a dramatically different outlook for their post-work years. But one group of pensioners is largely insulated from such concerns — outgoing Illinois lawmakers. The retirement benefits Illinois legislators receive are far more generous than those most of their constituents could collect working full-time jobs, reports Scott Reeder of the Reeder Report, using data from an Illinois Policy Institute analysis in a piece published on Watchdog.org. The anticipated pension benefits of the 34 lawmakers who will depart the state legislature in January show these …
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Jim Edgar tells Reboot Illinois that tax hikes, program cuts and leadership are desperately needed in Springfield. And Pat Quinn brings you Squeezy the Python.
With Democrats now holding a supermajority in the Illinois House and Senate as well as the governor's office, one might suppose a Democratic agenda would be a slam dunk in Springfield. As recent years have shown, however, single-party control doesn't guarantee the wheels of government grind smoothly. And former Gov. Jim Edgar, who served from 1991 to 1999, suggests that probably won't change anytime soon. In a wide-ranging interview with the new website Reboot Illinois, Edgar says Springfield is less dysfunctional when the two parties share power. "More times than not I think split government works pretty well. The reason is to make the tough decisions you need both parties. It’s hard to get one party to put up all the votes and take all …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Pension-related amendment to state constitution on Nov. 6 ballot is confusing, catastrophic and fake reform, say foes and legal experts. What you need to know before you vote.
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Saturday, October 27, 2012
By Jayette Bolinski, Illinois Watchdog SPRINGFIELD — Opposition to a proposed pension-related constitutional amendment that will go before Illinois voters Nov. 6 is creating strange bedfellows — from public employee unions to good-government groups that agree the question is not worthy of a change to the state’s constitution and does nothing to address the pension crisis. Groups opposed to the amendment are numerous and come from all walks of life. It’s no surprise that public-employee unions are opposed to the amendment, which requires a three-fifths majority vote before any public body can approve a pension benefit increase. Good-government groups, such as the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and the Illinois Policy Institute, …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Illinois Republicans are trying to tell voters that a vote for any Democrat this fall is a vote for House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Could this be the election year in which the GOP's portrayal of Mike Madigan as the corrupt manipulator of Democratic state reps — mere marionettes who dance on strings — actually pays off? The Southwest Side power broker is again the target of a Republican bid to tie him to the candidacies of every House Democrat in the November election, according to a report from IllinoisWatchdog.org. A recent $100,000 union donation to Madigan and the House's failure to act on pension reform in the General Assembly is being cited as evidence of a suspicious scratching of the back on the Speaker's part. David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, offered this take to a reporter for …
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9:25 am on Saturday, May 4, 2013
I'm wondering what cuts and sacrifices the State Reps take? Even if they do is it comparable to what the middle class average state worker has to take? How about Quinn? What's he taking?or not taking. I hope the union fights this and wins. That way the reps and governor can take the cuts let's start there. They always have to screw over the little man. more ›