One of the major legislative issues left unresolved this spring involves the state’s pension programs and how the state will meet its obligation to pay for them. Groups have been meeting over the summer and have been challenged to develop solutions. It’s uncertain whether any solution will be called for a vote this fall.
Some unions have taken the position that the state just needs to make its annual payments and is resisting any changes in benefits or offering any payment solutions. However, the 1995 funding law mandates that pension payments grow each year until reaching 90 percent funding levels by the year 2045. The unmistakable fact is that annual payments will be so large within a few years as to be politically unacceptable; they will consume too much of the annual budget.
A constitutional amendment is being talked about that would allow pension benefits to be lowered for current employees and thus make annual payments more acceptable to taxpayers. This idea will gain more traction if no other solutions are offered.
District Office 815-748-3494 or E-Mail to bob@pritchardstaterep.com
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And, begin a discussion by presenting overall facts of the matter, not right wing rhetoric that focuses on the abuses that do exist rather than the promises made to thousands of people who at best will receive a modest pension.
1. Major changes have been made to the pension system in Illinois seriously lowering what future workers will receive to such an extent that at higher, technical levels people even in this job climate have turned down jobs at the university.
2. overall, in comparison to other states, pension programs in Illinois are if anything lower, but to be fair right in the pack
3. problems occur because government to please anti-tax elements simply did not live up to its yearly promises to contribute to pensions and now finds a large unfunded liability.
4. The politics of the right at present is to fan the flames of resentment, rather than work towards a solution to problems.
What YOU can do for your country is to recognize that we are in a community, rather than spending time attacking anything involving public participaton.
Of course you feel that way, Herb. Cling to the propaganda that got you yours. It has no value in any honest discussion. Take the politics of the left and the politics of the right. Quickly put both hands together and throw it down the toilet. Flush thoroughly and wash your hands of it.
Just one example of pension abuse would pay for five, now count that, one, two, three, four, five pensions for five average people:
While I am sure some level of pension abuses happen in other states, in Illinois, we make government corruption, greed, and abuse into some sort of twisted ‘religion.’
Even if the state had met 100% of its pension obligations, that kind of abuse is still WRONG, it should not exist, it should be completely illegal, and it should be wiped out.
People rarely demand change when the world is all rainbows and puppies. People demand change when there are problems.
Obviously, Gannon and those who ‘allegedly’ signed his paperwork asked how much he could squeeze from his country.
My solutions are painless for the little people at the bottom, including the taxpayers (although “Only the little people pay taxes”):
Make reciprocal agreements with other states to make pensions portable to those states, and vice versa. What we have are people like school superintendents who work for another state, retire there, and then come to Illinois and work just enough years to qualify. They do not get one pension; they get two, from two different states. They did not work two jobs at the same time; they worked one job at a time, in two different states.
End the abuse. If one overpaid person gets something equivalent to what five people could get, then it needs to be cleaned up. No doubt in Illinois, there is more than just one person abusing the system. We all pay for the corruption in Chicago and elsewhere in this state. In 2009, the corruption tax in Chicago alone was pegged at $300 million annually. Even in a good economy, there should be no corruption. Of course, nobody got serious about cleaning up the system until the gravy train left the station. Had it been clean decades ago, we would have been in a much better place today.
Amen.
What guarantee will workers have that the State of Illinois will keep their word and properly fund any new pension plan? They have already reneged on their promise once. This is an example of how the corporations in America are trying to pit the shrinking middle class against each other as they outsource our tax base and our future prosperity. Until there is just a little patriotism in the board room, Americans will be under siege and continue to see our standard of living lowered. We have closed 58,000 U.S. factories since 2000. That is about 1/3 of our industrial base. If corporations are people, Goldman Sachs should have been given the death penalty by now.
I heard a ‘joke’ and there are several variations of it, which I will include all at once:
A Fortune 500 CEO, a Tea Party Member, and a Fill in the Blank_____ teacher, union guy, state employee, retiree are sitting at a table.
There are ten cookies. The CEO takes nine, keeps seven for himself, gives two to China, and tells the Tea Party Member:
“Hey, that _______ teacher, union guy, state employee, retiree, etc. is trying to take your cookie.
Goldman Sacks is not the entire problem, of course. I would love to see any defense contractor caught overcharging the military be charged with treason.
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The most defining statement of patriotism I’ve heard in my lifetime was:
It should be repeated in every corporate boardroom across America as well as every living room — including those dependent on public pensions. If we believe in that statement and act on it the solutions we seek will have already been found.
Step 1: Identify and end pension abuse.