Illinois high court has firm grounds for upholding pension reform bill
Via the Chicago Sun-Times
Illinois is teetering on the financial abyss — a $100 billion deep canyon in public employee pension funding. The financial crisis, longer life expectancies, and cost-of-living increases far above recent inflation are a big part of why. The question is, what should — and can — the state do now?
For the next two decades, 20 percent of every year’s state government revenues must go to the pension plans. Last year, Illinois borrowed $7 billion to fund payments and still left billions of dollars of bills unpaid. Higher taxes, increased borrowing, and massive cuts in expenditures offer no way out. They would be a gift to every nearby state, driving people and businesses to move away or stay away. Illinois’s declining tax base would force more onerous fiscal measures and more exits — a cycle of decline.
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