Lightfoot acted on public pensions while Springfield continues to diddle.
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot set a good example in her budget proposal to the City Council by including future public pension payments.
She stands in sharp contrast to Springfield legislators who continue to diddle.
The only ones paying off any part of the state’s public pension debt are Tier 2 public employees and teachers whose retirement benefits have been slashed while still making the same payroll contribution as those of us in Tier 1.
When they reach retirement age Tier 2 public employees will more than likely fail to reach “safe harbor.” That means their pension will not even be as good as Social Security, a violation of federal law.
The courts will rule that they must be made whole and local school districts and municipalities will be on the hook for the money.
Larry Msall of the corporatist Civic Committee criticized the Mayor’s budget proposal on pension payments because it doesn’t solve everything.
Given the failure of the proposed constitutional amendment to create a progressive tax in Illinois, I’m not sure what Msall thinks the Mayor can do.
Msall proposes a state tax on retirement income.
Rather than make the rich pay, Msall wants elderly retirees to pay ourselves.
Msall also wants and constitutional amendment to remove the pension protection clause from the state constitution.
The pension protection clause makes it illegal to “diminish or impair” the current pensions of current members of the states pension funds.
Removing that language is an empty gesture.
It would change nothing. Current retirees could not have our pensions retroactively reduced and future retirees are in already in Tier 2 and have had their benefits gutted.
The fact remains that Mayor Lightfoot has done more to address the problems of the public pension system and decades of underfunding than any Illinois politician.
We could use some of that in Springfield.