Perhaps I am spoiled (looking at all the Pub-staters wanting Quinn), but I wish we had a more progressive Governor. This is Illinois, we shouldn't have a Governor that is moderate on pensions.
That said, I'm obviously voting for him.
We're talking about the pensions the state can't afford still, right?
Actually the state can afford the pensions with only minor adjustments to stabilize the system. IL passed a sweeping law in 2010 for new employees hired after 1/1/11. Each year about 5% of the workforce covered by state pensions is replaced by new employees with such reduced benefits they may actually drop below the federal minimum in the coming years. As such the part of the payment into the system for currently acquired liabilities has been dropping the last few years.
What is crippling the budget is repaying the pension systems for the extensive borrowing from their funds to pay for programs. That accounts for over 3/4 of the pension payment and though it has been an ongoing problem for decades the current debt load can largely be traced to borrowing during the period from 2003 to 2011. Even this aspect can be dealt with through modest restructuring of the payment schedule.
Poll
