Why Illinois Is In Trouble – 109,881 Public Employees With $100,000+ Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $14B

Forbes ^ | 4/27/2020 | Adam Andrzejewski

[Zenyatta]

Illinois could soon be the first state in history to have its bonds rated as “junk.” Last month, both Moody’s MCO and Standard & Poor’s downgraded Illinois debt to just one notch above junk status.

Last week, the Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon (D-Chicago) wrote a letter to Congress requesting a $41.6 billion bailout. Critics balked.

In many ways, Illinois may have already crossed the Rubicon.

Our analysis at OpenTheBooks.com shows that an Illinois family of four now owes more in unfunded pension liabilities ($76,000) than they earn in household income ($63,585). In a state of 13 million residents, every man, woman, and child owes $19,000 — on an estimated $251 billion pension liability.

[mass55th]

"And they want a > $40billion dollar bailout."

Which they'll immediately piss away on bull$hit.

[Leaning Right]

> The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that all state pensions must be paid, no matter what. <

If you believe in the Rule of Law, that was the correct ruling. The Illinois state constitution forbids any reduction of public pensions.

So as I see it, Illinois has two choices. I’d choose option #1. But I bet they go with option #2.

1. Revise the state constitution.
2. Kick the can down the road, and hope some future Democrat president will bail them out.

[napscoordinator]

And 109,000 are down in Florida spending their money down here. We love it. Lol.

[Boogieman]

In Illinois you are allowed to double, triple, even quadruple-dip on the public pensions.

So typical career for a public employee in Illinois might be: start out with a city job, work just long enough to secure a pension, then get a job with the county, work there long enough to secure another pension, and finally, get a state job and secure your third pension, then retire and cash out.

[upchuck]

Be sure and check out the ‘Illinois $100,000 Club’ map in the article. Unbelievable!

[1Old Pro]

Bankruptcy will allow them to restructure their structural deficits.

[SJackson]

Correction

start out with a city job, work just long enough to secure a pension, then get a job with the county, work there long enough to secure another pension, and finally, get a state job and secure your third pension, then retire, cash out and move to the sunbelt.

[1Old Pro]

And with regular people out of work and businesses closed by edict of their governor, taxes will be raised to astronomical proportions.

What, money doesn't grow on trees?

[HangnJudge]

Tennessee #1 Fiscal stability
Under both Dem and Rep leadership

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/fiscal-stability

Kentucky, just to the north #45

[ConservativeMind]

I remember that very case, as well.

[Leaning Right]

> taxes will be raised to astronomical proportions <

I live in a Democrat county in a rust-belt state (sorry I can’t be more specific, but my ex-wife has PI’s out looking for me.)

Anyway, my country tried to tax stocks and stock mutual funds. The tax was 1% per year on all such assets. I simply ignored the tax. And in a few years it went away. I suspect Illinois will eventually try the same thing. But it won’t go away.

[manc]

There is a retired fireman who moved down here getting a hell of a pension. Pensions have crippled their state.

[SuperLuminal]

We old-timers can remember when government jobs, at any level, were obtained and valued under the concept of low pay but high job security... A doctorate in Physics got me a job with NASA at, about, $8000 per year... Fortunately, a year later, I got a defense-industry job doing more-exciting research at a much better salary...

[ExNewsExSpook]

Here’s a sterling example of why Illinois (and other states) are in such trouble; a longtime lobbyist was able to “count” 10 years in his job towards a teacher’s pension and spent one day in the classroom as substitute, qualifying for a $70K a year pension from the state. He took advantage of a piece of special legislation supported by then-governor Rod Blagojevich, creating the loophole that allowed him to collect a nice pension for one day of teaching. In return, the teacher’s union contributed $500K towards Blago’s re-election campaign.

The case was well-publicized and eventually wound up before the Illinois Supreme Court, which upheld the union official’s “right” to collect a teacher’s pension for virtually no time in a classroom:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-union-lobbyist-pension-ruling-piccioli-20190404-story.html

[ridesthemiles]

NY State’s education budget per student is $23K/year, the highest in the nation - 89% above average. “””

I went to a one room school with 13 other students.

I will put MY education against anyone today-—not including computers which didn’t exist then.

I can easily bet that our per student cost wasn’t $23K a year.

[Hojczyk]

Bet they get some money the GOP will give them 20 billion bet on it...

[SgtHooper]

Let em ROT!

[Jacquerie]

Blame scotus instead.

In 1964 it imposed a state level version of the 17th Amendment.

If Your State is a Mess.