Illinois Policy

By Rich Kozlovich

 I received the Illinois Policy news alert yesterday.  It turns out Illinois government keeps raising taxes and getting less for it.  Now there's a shocker for you.  But the big deal was their Public Employee pension system.  It's underfunded by $219 billion dollars.  

What happens if it goes belly up?  

The citizens of Illinois are on the hook for that money, to the tune of 45, 000 a person. Currently 27 cents for ever dollar spent by Illinois goes to a pensions, and every year they get a 3% raise, irrespective of the economic conditions.  Exacerbating the problem is the number of people employed by the state.  One person in ten are on the state pension system.  That must mean an awful lot of people are now and have been on the state's payroll.  All those people working for the state, paying more taxes, and getting less services.  Imagine that.

In a state where six of the last seven governors has been charged with a crime, and four went to prison.   Does anyone besides me thinks something smells rotten in Illinois?  

Just a thought!