ILL.—Things continue to take a downhill turn for the state of Illinois.
Seemingly obsessed by completely manageable issues like gay marriage and the decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes, and fighting tooth and nail to keep us from exercising our right to carry a weapon on our person for protection, Illinois governor Pat Quinn continues to overlook the massively obvious—the fact that the state has been robbing state employees’ pensions for years, and now that can has been kicked down the road as far as possible without having to face the music.
In this article from the Illinois Policy Institute, we’ve learned today that Moody’s has downgraded Illinois’ credit rating AGAIN, the 12th time since Quinn has taken office. And it all has to do with the inability of the state legislature and Quinn to come up with a workable solution for pension reform.
Most frightening in the options our legislators have is that the focus is on ‘pension-funding guarantees’:
A pension-funding guarantee means that government worker pensions will be first in line when the General Assembly decides how to spend money each year. Education, health care and public safety will all be cut if there is not enough funding for pensions.
That’s a guarantee that neither taxpayers nor the poor and disadvantaged, who would bear the brunt of any cuts in core services to make room for pensions, should be forced to support.
Legislators should reject the false choice they have between the two failed plans and instead amend them withreal reforms that help end the crisis.
The best way is to implement reforms found in state Reps. Tom Morrison and Jeanne Ives’ House Bill 3303 and state Sen. Jim Oberweis’ Senate Bill 2026. They leverage 401(k)-style plans to give government workers full control over their retirements and to stop adding more and more to the state’s unfunded liabilities.
Look these bills over, and give your support. We have to get this situation under control in Illinois, and keep the tax off the back of the private citizen who’s burdened enough already.