Solutions for the State’s Perplexing Pension Gordian Knot


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The battle over Illinois state employee pensions may have temporarily dropped off the front page, but Illinois still has the worst funded state pension systems in America. The unfunded liability of Illinois’ five pension systems will hit $111 billion at the end of the year.

Recent attempts by lawmakers to fix the pension issues were ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court. So now what? Many predicted the courts would toss House Speaker Michael Madigan's plan to cut benefits and raise costs. The doubters included Senate President John Cullerton and his former chief legal counsel, Eric Madiar, who has written about his ideas to constitutionally save state workers’ pensions.  

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Madiar joins host Phil Ponce to discuss his new report, "Illinois Public Pensions: Where To From Here."


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