Tagged: Illinois pension system

The Illinois Senate has moved forward with a pair of measures (SB 1 and SB 35)  that would strip government workers of some of their pension benefits. The changes would impact state and university employees, as well as downstate and suburban public school teachers.

Illinois will disclose more details about its underfunded pensions systems following an agreement with the Securities and Exchanges Commission.

Retired state workers in Illinois now know how much they will be required to contribute to their health care costs. The details are in the tentative contract agreement between the state and AFSCME.

The pact also will give the state the savings it had already been counting on.

Until now, state and university employees who retired after long government careers had not been required to pay any health care premiums. A new state law changed that, but how much they would pay was subject to contract negotiations, which dragged on for 15 months.

It was billed as a "day of pensions" in the Illinois House. But it turned into about a half-hour's worth as Illinois lawmakers continue having a hard time confronting the state's $100 billion problem.

There were four proposals reviewed on February 28, each more harsh than what's been discussed in other pension overhauls.