West Cook News

A retirement restructuring plan has been proposed by Wirepoints.com to help end Illinois' public retirement crisis. 

"The plan, largely scored by the state’s actuary, Segal Consulting, brings stability to the state’s finances through a pension freeze that protects workers’ already-earned benefits and means-testing of cost-of-living benefits and retiree health insurance subsidies," Illinois Review posted in an article on its website.

Mark Glennon, executive editor of Wirepoints, said the burden of pension in the state is "insurmountable without reform."

“The total unfunded liability for state and local pensions has now reached an unimaginable $420 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service, which provides far more realistic numbers than governments," he said. "And many municipalities are in worse shape than the state, especially Chicago. For Chicagoans, combined, overlapping, unfunded pension liabilities per household have reached an absurd $135,000. With so much debt, it’s no wonder Illinois has lost more people than any other state in the country."

Finances in the state have been decreasing for decades and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse. 

Requests from state Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) for $42 billion in bailout money show that Illinois is running out of options for retirement pensions. There is also the abandoned $1.2 billion bond issuance and a heavy reliance on $5 billion from the federal government. 

The Wirepoints plan includes cutting unfunded pensions in half, which would help decrease debts from $192 billion to $120 billion. This will save approximately $5 billion in retirement costs each year. 

"Going forward, all workers in the five state-run funds are moved into self-managed retirement plans (SMP) that replicate the State University Retirement System’s (SURS) existing defined contribution plan," Illnois Review called for. "More than 20,000 Illinois state university workers have opted into the SMP plan since its creation in 1998." 

This means new and current workers won't earn pension benefits. 

“Politicians have Illinoisans debating tax hikes and tax schemes instead of the reforms Illinois actually needs,” Ted Dabrowski, president of Wirepoints, said. “Our comprehensive plan protects state workers’ retirement security and ensures Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens no longer suffer from ever-higher taxes and a lack of core services.”