pensions

Illinois is leading the Midwest in outbound migration, leading the Midwest in unemployment, and leading the Midwest in pension debt and unpaid bills. So naturally, our representatives in Springfield are talking about bacon and milkweeds.

As an Illinois taxpayer, maybe you're aware of something being worked on in Springfield called "The Grand Bargain." As Illinois Policy's Kristina Rasmussen explained to us today on the WROK Morning Show, given the host of financial problems our state has--it's not grand, and it certainly not a bargain for taxpayers.

I know, that's kind of a loaded question. We need lots of things in this state, primarily money. According to a report out by Reboot Illinois, we've got some serious cash problems (among other things). Currently sitting at around $111 billion, Illinois' unpaid pension debt is the highest in the nation ... Read More ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A state legislative report says Illinois' unfunded pension liability is $111 billion. The General Assembly's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability listed the figure in a Thursday report. It covers five pension systems for the fiscal year that ended June 30...

Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey joined us on the show this week to discuss a number of issues that have been simmering over the past month or so. First on the agenda was funding for the future AAR facility at the Rockford Airport. Both the Rockford City Council and the Winnebago County Board now have approved payments for their respective share of the costs...

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network More than $50 million will go back into Illinois’ pension systems thanks to a settlement with a credit rating agency. Standard and Poor’s is paying out $1.4 billion nationally over claims it inflated ratings to risky mortgage-backed securities in the years before the 2008 financial crisis...

Riley & Scot talked with both GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner and State Rep. Joe Sosnowski about the pension reform bill that now sits on the Governor's desk.

More pension fun from Tuesday morning's show, this time with John Tillman, CEO of Illinois Policy Institute.  We asked him about many of the details of the proposed pension deal, including the fake defined contribution option that's inside: It's a fake 401k plan to seduce Republican votes in the legislature...

A vote could take place Tuesday afternoon (perhaps by the time you read this) on a new pension reform plan for Illinois.  State Sen. Dave Syverson joined "Riley & Scot" to discuss the bill.  While he didn't straight-out say he'd be a "yes" vote, it certainly seemed that was the way he was leaning.  ...