Comments on: A truly messed up situation

by: Social Worker

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 13:18:47 +0000

I worked for the State of Illinois as a DCFS social worker for 33 years. It was my pleasure to serve the children and families of our state. Working for DCFS is not a career for the faint of heart. No matter what the decision made someone disagrees. I was subjected to public and personal assaults. I cleaned up buckets of roaches, washed sink fulls of dishes and spent countless hours in hot, fly and bug infested homes. Hundreds of hours of counseling, listening and attempting to mend back the lives of abused and neglected children were spent. I earned an MSW and LCSW along the way. ( and yes I paid the the college degree) I EARNED my retirement! I faithfully made a payment to my retirement twice a month for 33 years. State employees perform jobs that many people would not consider. Now we are stamped with a scarlet letter- and made to feel ashamed. My sacrifices to the State of Illinois have already been made.

by: Bemused

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 21:20:16 +0000

Have said before and will repeat. When this stuff hits the courts I think what has been earned will have to be paid. The fix will have to be made to what is earned down the road. Those working past the change point will bear the the heavy burden.
This is already the case in the private sector.

by: Arthur Andersen

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:52:33 +0000

Very good article today, Rich.
Kasich Walker-your Buy Illinois bonds idea is a FAIL for two reasons. First and most importantly, the State pension funds have less than half of the $200 billion in assets you assert. Secondly, and thank God, Illinois doesn’t have a fraction of that amount in debt. Nice try though.

by: wizard

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:52:06 +0000

I am not willing to give up one cent of my retirement benefits and insurance until two things happen: 1. Absolutely no state funds are expended on illegal persons and 2. there is an iron clad way to force the state to live up to its commitments instead of kicking the can down the road. When those two things are done, I am willing to negotiate.

by: Norseman

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:20:32 +0000

I would like to hear from Uncle Kenny as to whether he trusts the folks making the decision on what his sacrifice should be and whether he believes it will be reasonable. It’s unfortunate that his nephew isn’t involved in the decision making process. Maybe he would feel better about the end product if that was the case.

by: Six Degrees of Separation

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:14:50 +0000

As I understand it the 1995 “ramp up” law was a back-loaded catch up provision that, while it would theoretically have worked if all the payments were made as scheduled, was politically expedient for all involved (D’s and R’s who voted for it) because it kicked the can down the road rather than provided upfront funding that could’ve made things more manageable IF the upfront funds were managed well. You can pay them now or pay them later. TII. It will always be later.

by: geronimo

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:02:04 +0000

Uncle Kenny’s controlling……….what?

by: Crime Fighter

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:58:41 +0000

@ Geronimo, - Uncle Kenny and the massives of thousands like him who are about to get stiffed do NOT stand a chance. -
You mean what the Trib has been saying about Uncle Kenny and his “union bosses” controlling everything isn’t true?

by: Yellow Dog Democrat

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:39:21 +0000

Rich -

A very human touch to that piece. A couple of points:

1) One sticking point with unions is that while the tax increase expires relatively soon, they are being asked to forfeit retirement benefits forever. Republicans can and should commit to long term tax reform as part of a pension deal.

2) Relatedly, any time we mention that state retirees don’t pay income tax on their pensions, we ought to remind folks that NO ONE in Illinois pays taxes on pensions, not even CEOs earning six figure retirements or more.

That said, I wish your uncle Kenny and all state retirees the best of luck.

P.S. The Blago advice was sage, my friend.

by: The Mad Hatter

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:32:55 +0000

Speaking of the crook formerly know as Gov. Blago, he borrowed $10 billion in 2003 to shore up the pension system but put only $3 billion into the system. Where did the other $7 billion go?

by: zatoichi

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:22:10 +0000

I have several good friends working for the state and getting ready to retire soon because of choices they are being forced to make even though they would rather stay at their jobs. Almost all will go from an income in the $60,000’s to retirement income of lower $30,000s based on their 30+ years of working. Some have just now paid their houses off. There are thousands of state employees just like them. The ‘greedheads’ are simply easier to talk/complain/generalize about. The average worker is just too boring because they get the job done without controversy.

by: titan

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 18:55:55 +0000

@Rich Miller - That the state legislature chose to spend money on other things and dug us into a debt hole doesn’t mean the pension system was/is unaffordable.

Groceries or rent may be affordable, but an irresponsible person who blows their money on other things (and borrows to contiue buying those other things long after it is obvious they don’t have the income for thir lifestyle) will still get into a financial fix that may leave them unable to pay rent or groceries