To: The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, and Governor J.B. Pritzker
Illinois' unfunded pension liability is massive. Tell Gov and house to pay back!
Repay the pension fund the money that has been taken from the fund with the IOU to repay. The state is responsible for taking the money, you can not decide now to walk away from this obligation, it will be a black eye for the state forever. Please do the right thing and find a way to repay!
Why is this important?
Illinois' pension-fund shortfall is by far the largest in the nation. Simply put, Illinois' unfunded pension liability is massive. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn says the $96 billion of liability has been accumulating for decades, with the state's pension problems dating back at least 70 years.
"There have been 12 governors, 13 speakers of the House and 13 presidents of the Senate that have come and gone, and the issue has kind of confounded our predecessors," he says.
Over those many years, Illinois' teachers, state troopers, university professors and other state employees have been paying their share, contributing about 8 to 12 percent out of every paycheck to their pension funds. But the state hasn't.
Illinois' governors and lawmakers have frequently shortchanged the pension systems. They've even skipped some pension payments altogether so they could more freely spend on things more popular with the voters, such as schools, highways, health care and prisons.
The result, says Quinn, is a huge pension shortfall that is growing bigger by the day."Our liability every day goes up by $17 million, so we've got to deal with this," he says.
"There have been 12 governors, 13 speakers of the House and 13 presidents of the Senate that have come and gone, and the issue has kind of confounded our predecessors," he says.
Over those many years, Illinois' teachers, state troopers, university professors and other state employees have been paying their share, contributing about 8 to 12 percent out of every paycheck to their pension funds. But the state hasn't.
Illinois' governors and lawmakers have frequently shortchanged the pension systems. They've even skipped some pension payments altogether so they could more freely spend on things more popular with the voters, such as schools, highways, health care and prisons.
The result, says Quinn, is a huge pension shortfall that is growing bigger by the day."Our liability every day goes up by $17 million, so we've got to deal with this," he says.