The centennial DuQuoin State Fair kicks off today.
Illinois Director of Agriculture Jerry Costello tells Brownfield the department is celebrating 100 years in several ways throughout the fair, but he will personally celebrate the same way he has every year since he was a kid.
“My great-grandmother would always get Malone’s Taffy and she passed away over a decade ago. So, every year that I am at the DuQuoin State Fair I buy Malone’s Taffy and put a piece on her grave after the fair, because that is something we always did together.”
Costello says the fair is a great economic driver for southern Illinois and another exhibition opportunity for ag youth.
* Press Release…
The Du Quoin State Fair along with Governor JB Pritzker announced today that members of the Hayes family will serve as the Grand Marshals for the Du Quoin State Fair Twilight Parade. Carole Hayes Hill and Jane Hayes Rader will represent the family.
The Fair started back in the spring of 1923 when a group of successful and ambitious Du Quoin business leaders under the leadership of horse breeder William R. Hayes came up with an idea to sponsor an event that would attract people from all over Southern Illinois. Several of the business leaders also owned horses and needed a convenient place for them to compete. Not shy about making big claims even from the very start, the group called it “The Du Quoin State Fair” because they wanted it to become as nice, as attractive, and as well accepted in the area as the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. And that happened quickly — crowds were estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 in the first few years of the Fair during the 1920s.
“Southern Illinois has a long history of visionaries marketing the uniqueness of the region,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “In celebrating 100 years of the Du Quoin State Fair, we are recognizing the foresight of William R. Hayes in the creation of these historic grounds. I’m proud to continue investing in this Southern Illinois treasure.”
“We are thrilled to highlight 100 years of the Du Quoin State Fair,” said Josh Gross, Du Quoin State Fair Manager. “Without the initial support and investment by the Hayes family, we would not be Celebrating a Century today.”
The Grandstand entertainment this year features several well-known names in country music headlining shows, as well as the “I Love The 90’s Tour” featuring Montell Jordan, Tone Loc, Young MC and Rob Base. Jeff Foxworthy is also scheduled to appear and there will be two nights of dirtcar racing.
Other special events include the queen contest, lip sync battle, beard contest, washer and cornhole tournaments, not-so-newlywed show, backseat driving contest, and much more.
A variety of other attractions include the twilight parade, high school marching band contest, various carnival rides, craft vendors and food vendors.
* The Question: Have you ever been to the Du Quoin State Fair? If so, tell us about it. If not, maybe tell us why.
* Last week, Darren Bailey reported raising just $1,000. This week, he’s reported $26,000 in contributions, including $1K from state GOP Chair Don Tracy and his spouse. If Bailey keeps up that blistering pace, he’ll raise another $300,000 by election day. By contrast, state House Democratic candidate Sharon Chung reported $119,800 in cash receipts this week.
Republican Mark Curran faces Democratic Judge Elizabeth Rochford in the race. As you know, a lawsuit has been filed to strike down the Illinois statute barring out of state and dark money contributions to judicial races. But it’s always possible, I guess, that Leonard Leo could take some of that $1.6 billion from Chicago businessperson Barre Seid and spend it on independent expenditures here. Leo has displayed a keen interest in state court races.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker visited Charleston on Thursday at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library on his way down to the DuQuoin State Fair.
While Pritzker was at the library, an event hosted by the Coles County Democrats, Pritzker urged Democrats in Coles County to vote in the upcoming general election because of what the future may look like for Democrats following the election.
“I’m so excited for this election because I know we can win, but it’s going to be a fight,” Pritzker said. “… Hate is on the ballot in Illinois this year. Hate has no place in Illinois.”
Charleston native Kim Miller, who was among the Bailey supporters, said she was motivated to turn out in protest by several concerns, including her opposition to abortion and to school sex education programs that promote gender transition medical measures to students. She added, “Those young people are vulnerable at that stage in life.”
Miller said she also has safety concerns about the criminal justice reform SAFE-T Act, particularly a provision that limits officers responding to criminal trespass incidents to issuing citations instead of being able to remove the trespasser. In addition, Miller said she disagrees with Pritzker’s COVID-19 closures of schools and the subsequent masking requirements for returning students.
“If we don’t stand up for our kids, what kind of nation are we leaving them,” Miller said.
Frustration with the state’s COVID-19 response was also voiced by The Body Club owner James Di Naso from Charleston when he stood up from his chair inside the banquet hall and shouted, “You shut down my gym during COVID,” as Pritzker began his remarks at the Coles County Democrats gathering. Di Naso was then removed from the banquet hall by some of the attendees around him.
* From Dan Proft’s PAC…
IL State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D) joined Dan & Amy’s Chicago radio show this morning with an interesting perspective on the People Who Play By The Rules PAC “Summer Of Joy” ad controversy: the most offensive thing of all was Lightfoot’s comments on the ad, specifically regarding “darker” skin being somehow “bad.”
..
Transcript beginning at ~8:43AM CST 8/25/2022 on AM 560 WIND Chicago:
Proft: “So what about that, what about the assertion that Lightfoot made?”
Ford: “Well I mean of course we live in America, people can make assertions all they want. I’ve been in politics for over 15 years and it’s the job of the opponent to put out ads that they see and as a candidate, I mean, you have to have tough skin if you’re in politics especially if you’re playing at the level of mayor. And I really really think that you have to pick your battles and this is not the battle that I think we need to be focusing on as a negative. I don’t need anybody saying the darker you look, the more dangerous you are. That’s bad. And so I find it offensive that we focus on saying that that’s an ugly vision of a person because that person is darker.
Proft: That’s what Lori Lightfoot said.
Ford: ”Yeah, that’s what I mean. I find…it takes us back. You know, in America where you have images of black people that have, you know…people have been discriminated because of darker skin, and so even if you had intentions on whatever, you pick your battles, and to say that because you made me [Lightfoot] darker, that means ‘I’m scary to white people.’ That’s not right. And so what we need to do is embrace all colors.
“You can’t expect your opponent to put you in the best light when they’re trying to defeat you. I know this. You know, so you’re not going to give her best image for ads that you’re trying to convey a message. Now, if you’re trying to convey a message that she’s darker than she is, and that makes her bad, then that’s your prerogative, but I don’t see how being darker makes the Mayor of the city of Chicago threatening to white suburbia.”
Proft: “It’s also so ridiculous because it’s like, everybody knows who she is and what her skin color is, this is not like a controversy, it’s not the topic of discussion which is why I can never even conceive of this allegation being made. This is like JB Pritzker arguing about being presented as ‘fat’ on screen, like ‘Oh no you know you got me from the wrong angle, you made me look fat’ I mean it’s just…everybody knows the physical characteristics of people who have been omnipresent in our lives particularly because of the every other day press conferences we had for two years during the pandemic, so it’s just silliness to suggest that I’m now I’m introducing a figure that people don’t know anything about in order to ’scare’ people.”
Ford: “Right. Let me tell you, and this is the truth, whether you’re a white person or black person, when you go into your Secretary of State office, go take a passport picture, and go do anything, everyone wants their picture to look pretty accurate and even in hands to make them look better. But you don’t come out against the color of your skin when it could really make a person that color be offended. I mean, the color you had her in, is just a little shade darker than me, and so we cannot play…even if you are offended you have to have thicker skin to avoid that issue, I mean, you just can’t do it.”
Amy: “Do you think the black community is upset at all with this ad?”
Ford: “You know, I don’t think so. So I don’t think the black community is upset, I mean we’ve seen, when I think about ads that have been put forth, I’ve seen ads of white people darkened too…I’ve seen it happen. Now, we know that there is such thing as racism, and there’s such thing as you know in society that you want to make people look scary…you know I mean just gotta have tough skin and pick your battles and this is not one that you go into to highlight, to make it you [Lightfoot] as a person confirming that ‘because I’m darker, I’m scarier’…that’s her confirming that because she’s darker, she’s scarier. She validated…even if you had intentions on making that assumption, she validated it. And that’s offensive.”
…
They went on to debate the merits of the highly controversial SAFE-T Act through the top of the hour.
* The Daily Herald looks at campaign contributions made by Richard Uihlein this cycle…
• State Sen. Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods, whose campaign received $277,137.
• Kane County treasurer candidate Chris Lauzen of Aurora, who received $15,000.
• DuPage County Board candidate Annette Corrigan of Wheaton, whose campaign received $2,500.
• Lake County sheriff candidate Mark Vice II of Round Lake, who got $3,000.
A recent audit of the Illinois Treasurer’s office shows several accounts understated $1.6 billion.
The report from the Auditor General for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021, said testing of financial statements show uncorrected duplicate deposits between the treasurer’s office and the office of the Illinois Comptroller.
“It was determined only the duplicate deposit portion of the reconciling items would have been double counted in the available cash balance reported by the [comptroller],” the report said.
The report was released in June and said state law requires financial reporting to be “properly recorded and accounted for to permit the preparation of accounts and reliable financial and statistical reports to maintain accountability over the State’s resources.” […]
State Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, who is challenging Frerichs in the November election, advocates to combine the treasurer and comptroller offices.
“But one thing that’s concerning with this I think is that after the auditor general has laid out, again, a repeat audit finding, repeated from last year, we only get a cursory explanation,” Demmer told The Center Square.
* Ma’am, it’s Du Quoin, not DeQuoin….
Illinois Republican U.S. Senate nominee Kathy Salvi will attend the following upcoming public events as she campaigns throughout Illinois. […]
Tuesday, August 30:
12:00pm CT: Kathy Salvi will participate in Republican Day at the DeQuoin State Fair.
Location:
DeQuoin State Fairgrounds
655 Executive Drive
DeQuoin, IL
…Adding… MISO says there have been no brownouts anywhere in its territory this summer, contrary to Darren Bailey’s claims of a brownout in his district…
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, is the federally-regulated regional transmission organization that serves 15 states including most of Illinois outside of the Chicago area.
The grid operator told me they had no knowledge of any “brownouts,” which is a term it does not use.
“As of Friday, August 26, MISO has been in normal operating conditions for the entire month,” a spokesperson said. “None of our emergency operating conditions this summer have resulted in power interruptions.”
* More…
* Pritzker preaches policy priorities to packed UI crowd: “They want to distract us into believing that gay marriage, and Black history, Disney World, and library books are somehow more of a threat to our lives than AR-15s and ghost guns,” Pritzker said. “We are not going to let anyone put the LGBTQ+ community back into a closet. We won’t let anyone take away the civil rights and economic rights owed to our Black and Brown citizens. And we are never, ever going back on a woman’s right to choose.”
* The Sun-Times has been constantly hyping tiny increases in hospitalizations and ignoring smallish dips during a long and relatively flat period, but now they’re clearly down, so we’ll see what the paper does with this…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 24,297 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 82 deaths since August 19, 2022.
According to the CDC, 33 counties are now rated at High Community Level for COVID-19. An additional 48 counties in Illinois are now rated at Medium Community Level.
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,670,258 cases, including 34,677 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic.
As of last night, 1,310 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19 [1,434 reported last Friday]. Of those, 158 patients were in the ICU and 59 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 191 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
IDPH Director Sameer Vohra is urging all Illinoisans to get up to date on vaccinations and booster shots as the best defense against hospitalization and more serious outcomes from COVID-19. A second booster shot is recommended for all individuals over the age of 50 four months after they have received their first booster. In addition, he is reminding parents and guardians to get children vaccinated. IDPH is supporting an education and outreach campaign by the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to educate healthcare providers and parents about the effectiveness and safety of the newly authorized vaccines for children under 5. Click HERE to view the resources for families
The counties in Illinois listed at High Community Level are Adams, Boone, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Franklin, Gallatin, Hardin, Henderson, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Lawrence, Lee, Marion, Marshall, Massac, Perry, Pike, Pope, Saline, Stephenson, Vermilion, Wabash, Washington, Whiteside, Williamson, and Winnebago.
The CDC recommends the following measures for people in areas that are rated at High Community Level for COVID-19 transmission:
• Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status (including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings)
• If you are immunocompromised or high risk for severe disease
o Wear a mask or respirator that provides you with greater protection
o Consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed
o Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to take other precautions
o Have a plan for rapid testing if needed (e.g., having home tests or access to testing)
o IF YOU TEST POSITIVE: Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments like oral antivirals, and monoclonal antibodies
• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease
o consider self-testing to detect infection before contact
o consider wearing a mask when indoors with them
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters
• Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible
• Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19
At the Medium Community Level, persons who are elderly or immunocompromised (at risk of severe outcomes) are advised to wear a mask in indoor public places. In addition, they should make sure to get up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines or get their 2nd booster, if eligible.
IDPH has been supporting pharmacies and healthcare providers in efforts to increase their inventories of the various FDA-authorized treatments. There are over 1,200 treatment locations in Illinois - including all the major retail pharmacies. More than 96.7% of the state’s population is within a 10-mile radius of one of these locations.
A total of 23,213,858 vaccines have been administered in Illinois. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 6,728 doses. Since August 19, 47,094 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, more than 77% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 69% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and more than 54% of the vaccinated population has an initial booster according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data indicates that the risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes from COVID-19 is much higher for unvaccinated people than for those who are up to date on their vaccinations. All data are provisional and are subject to change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov. The federal government has established a new website that provides an all-purpose toolkit with information on how to obtain masks, treatment, vaccines and testing resources for all areas of the country at: https://www.covid.gov/.
The median U.S. pension fund lost 9.7% in the second quarter, according to the Pensions & Investments trade book, and the first quarter was weak as well. Though markets have staged a modest summer comeback, 2022 is shaping up as a reminder of the time bomb embedded in state finances.
The bottom line: Illinois’ major pension systems have nowhere near the money needed to pay promised benefits, despite booking a decade of positive investment results. […]
Governor, where is your grand plan to fix this slow-motion [pension] disaster? As of now, nowhere.
Frank Manzo III had a sound response to the editorial. Click here. And Crain’s has a piece up this week about how to improve the state’s investment returns. Click here.
The State of Illinois HAS taken action to address the state’s pension funding challenges. In 1994, the State passed a 50 year funding plan to bring the systems to 90% funded by 2045, and it has stuck to this plan. There have been steadily increasing payments to the system as Illinois moved further into the plan, adjusting to market swings and actuarial assumption changes by the boards of the systems. Gov. Pritzker also worked with the General Assembly to ensure the state used part of the surplus to pay an additional $500 million into the pension system. Meanwhile, there have been essentially no increases in benefits affecting the liability of the five systems since fiscal year 2003, and payroll costs have fallen far below actuarial expectations. At this point in the funding plan, the state’s annual pension contribution to follow the 1994 plan is expected to remain flat as a percent of the State’s budget before falling off drastically in 2046. The pension payment, while it is a significant percent of the state’s budget, is not expected to grow faster than the rest of the budget. Below from last year’s budget book
* More…
In 2010, the State reduced the pension package offered to new hires. The creation of Tier 2, modifying pension benefits for public employees hired January 1, 2011, and after, significantly lowered the baseline costs of the pensions offered to employees. As of today, nearly HALF of active state employees are Tier 2. Tier 2 also impacted other public sector employees in Illinois, bringing cost savings to local governments as well. Also of note — The ‘normal cost’ for Tier 2 is significantly lower than for Tier 1 employees and is lower than the cost the state would incur to move teachers and university staff into Social Security.
* More…
The Pritzker administration continues to take additional steps to address the State’s unfunded pension liabilities. The State budget committed an additional $300 million to the systems in fiscal year 2022 and another $200 million in fiscal year 2023 in addition to the systems’ certified amounts. This will be the first time since the 1994 funding plan was implemented that additional state revenues will be provided above the certified amounts. These contributions will help pay down the state’s pension debt more quickly and will save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion by fiscal year 2045.
In fiscal year 2018, the General Assembly authorized a then three-year plan to reduce the liabilities of the systems by allowing retiring members to sell a portion of the value of their post-retirement cost of living adjustments and allowing inactive employees to buy out of the systems. In 2019, the Governor and the General Assembly extended the sunset date of the program to fiscal year 2024 and extended it again to 2026 in this past spring session. Significant interest in the pilot program has already led to some liability reductions and reductions in needed annual contributions to the systems. The estimated value of the liability reductions for the retirement systems totals $1.4 billion already.
Looking at one quarter of investment returns and declaring ‘the good times are over’ doesn’t make sense. We know markets go up and go down and fluctuations are normal. We have adapted and made our payments. See below for year by year for 10 years of data. A one-quarter low return is hardly a ‘time bomb’
* More…
The State of Illinois retirement systems have more conservative rate of return assumptions than most public pension systems – with rates of return as of the end of FY21 assumed between 6.5%-7%. The systems have moved towards a more conservative portfolio as well to reduce the volatility in the systems’ rates of returns when the market underperforms. Again, one quarter of poor broad market performance is hardly a ‘time bomb’.
* More…
As for the already debunked point that public employees are not part of the Social Security system, for the three major state systems (SERS, SURS and TRS), most SERS employees DO participate in Social Security. However, teachers and university staff do not participate in Social Security. Which means that not only are these employees not paying the 6.2% from their paychecks into Social Security (and in fact, are paying a higher number directly to TRS or SURS), the state/employer is not making the employer contribution of 6.2% to Social Security either. The cost to the state/school districts/universities to have Tier 2 employees join Social Security would be a cost greater than the normal cost of a year of service for these employees (the marginal value of an extra year of service). Together employees and employers would have to contribute 12.4% of salary to Social Security, payments that are not being paid now.
* The Illinois Public Safety and Violence Prevention task force met yesterday to share information and discuss strategies to prevent hate crimes. State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) said the meeting comes after many of those groups requested help from the state. WGEM…
The Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes is looking into the possibility of creating a statewide hate crimes and bias incident hotline. Illinois Human Rights Director Jim Bennett said Thursday that the hotline would be separate from reporting to law enforcement.
Bennett explained the new hotline could help victims of hate crimes and bias incidents talk with an expert on the other phone line. He also believes it could be a great opportunity to get people connected with agencies and local groups that people turn to when they are facing a crisis. […]
The commission is also recommending that the state create a grant program to help organizations connect with the helpline and develop more services to assist victims of hate crimes. They would also like to educate law enforcement about how to respond to hate crimes and create a continuing education course for state attorneys, public defenders, and judges.
Bennett told the Illinois House Public Safety and Violence Prevention Task Force that commission members would like to see a data collection and analysis hub for hate crimes and bias incidents. Experts across the country know hate crimes are underreported, even in Illinois.
* Anti-Defamation League Director David Goldenberg told lawmakers antisemitic incidents in Illinois have increased by 430 percent since 2016…
* Equality Illinois’ Director of Public Policy Mike Ziri said there has been an increase of Illinois LGBTQ students reporting harassment in school over the past year…
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, a member of the task force, told The Center Square that the state needs to address past policies and reforms and increase the penalties on offenders if they hope to stop hate crimes.
“I believe if we are determined to deter these types of crimes, we need to make sure there are significant consequences for those who engage in this type of activity,” Windhorst said.
Windhorst said that the SAFE-T Act and eliminating cash bail will not help the issues.
“With the SAFE-T Act and the Pre Trial Fairness Act, it appears to me that the offense of hate crime is not a detainable offense through trial,” Windhorst said. “If an individual is arrested for a hate crime, they will be released within 48 hours.”
[Added by Rich Miller: Rep. Windhorst did not make his comments during the hearing, when they could have been rebutted.]
* Ryan Green and Austin Berg talk about the messaging behind efforts to stop Gov. Pritzker’s 2020 graduated income tax constitutional amendment…
“What we found was that framing the progressive tax as an attack on retirement incomes — which it would allow for — really moved voters across age demographics and across both political spectrums,” Green says.
“Politicians we don’t trust are going to get this new power. And what are they going to do with it? They might come after your retirement income. That unlocked a very powerful aspect of certainty which combated the fairness message,” Berg says.
Legislators could tax retirement incomes right now if they wanted, so that’s an expectedly disingenuous statement, but it (and other things) worked. And Treasurer Frerichs’ infamous comment surely didn’t help matters much.
On Sunday, Bailey appeared on stage during a service with Pastor Brian Phillips at his church, the Grove Fellowship in Poplar Grove.
“We have officially worshipped with you as much as we’ve worshipped at our home church,” Bailey told Phillips in front of his congregation.
Above the pulpit was a graphic on a screen featuring a line from the Old Testament of the Bible saying “The Lord is a Man of War,” next to a symbol of “The Punisher” — a popular Marvel Comics character that has been appropriated by far-right militia groups like the Proud Boys.
“The Lord is a man of war but he deals with the spirits of evil in heavenly places,” Phillips said during the service, standing next to both Darren Bailey and his wife, Cindy Bailey.
Bailey has appeared at multiple campaign events with Phillips. He sounded similar ominous tones during his presentation Aug. 21.
“We’re at war,” Bailey told the congregants. “But we have everything we need to win, and it’s up to what we say, what we do, where we go, how we interact.”
Phillips was at former President Donald Trump’s [Stop the Steal] rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. He is seen in Facebook Live video shot by fellow Rockford-area Pastor Steve Cassell. Both Baileys have also campaigned with Cassell and have delivered a guest sermon at Cassell’s church, called Beloved Church, in Lena, Illinois.
In a statement to Playbook, Bailey said: “I’ve said that Jan. 6 was a dark day for America. It was extremely upsetting and those who broke the law should be held accountable. But questions about it are an effort to inject national politics into a race that should be all about fixing Illinois.”
A person close to Bailey’s campaign said neither of the pastors is employed by the campaign and they weren’t part of the attack, just the protest.
It’s been two steps forward, one step back for Bailey. Like Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican in a Blue state who snagged a Donald Trump endorsement, Bailey has focused his energy on talking about kitchen table issues and not the former president. That proved a winning strategy for Youngkin, who was elected in 2021.
What Youngkin didn’t do was hang out with Jan. 6 minions. Meanwhile, Bailey has more than once aligned himself with “stop-the-steal” acolytes.
I don’t think I agree with the claim that Bailey has focused his energy on kitchen table issues.
Billionaire Ken Griffin revealed in these pages that he pitched Pritzker with a plan to move public employees into the federal Social Security system (they currently don’t participate).
Teachers and university employees don’t participate in Social Security, but most other public employees do, including state employees. We covered this a couple weeks ago.
We’ll have more on this goofy editorial later today.
…Adding… Frank Manzo III in comments…
Problems with the Editorial:
1. Only certain public employees in Illinois don’t receive Social Security, as Rich mentioned.
2. The Editorial Board says the state’s five pension funds “have just 42.4% of the needed funds” but, as the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability notes, “a more realistic valuation of the true financial position of the State retirement systems would be based upon the market value of the assets” and that was at 46.5%. Not a huge difference, but still a more accurate number which an Editorial Board may be better off using.
https://cgfa.ilga.gov/Upload/1121%20SPECIAL%20PENSION%20BRIEFING.pdf
3. It’s a little shortsighted. The Editorial acknowledges that pensions produced a 7.8% annualized gain from 2011 through 2021. Do they think the market was positive every single year in there? Because the stock market declined in calendar year 2018. It also fell very far in 2020, as we may remember. Then something crazy happened both times: it rebounded. The Editorial’s doom-and-gloom almost acts as if this year’s dip is here to stay forever. But the market will rebound. (If it doesn’t, we have far bigger problems than just public pensions.) And there is no real reason to assume that the long-term annualized rate of return from 2022-2032 will be dramatically lower than the 2011-2021 rate of 7.8%.
4. The Editorial doesn’t mention the $500 million in supplemental contributions that the State is making to pensions. Why? Maybe mention it as a good example of paying down debt and encourage more of it every year after.
5. The point that a “federal bailout” would be “unfair to the rest of the country”… First, there’s no serious proposal to do this as far as I am aware, so it is a canard. Second, our neighbor Kentucky (as an example) has a similar pension problem too, so it’s not like Illinois would be the only state to gain if something like that ever did happen. Third, smaller states like Virginia, Maryland, and Arizona get billions more in Department of Defense spending annually than Illinois. Illinois is the 5th largest economy but gets the 19th most military spending. Does the Tribune think that is “unfair” to its home state? Obviously, that’s just one example, but the “unfair” claim can be made about a lot (but not all) federal policies from which Illinois benefits far less.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2819472/dod-releases-report-on-defense-spending-by-state-in-fiscal-year-2020/
Look, the median age of an Illinois resident is about 38 years old. That means the typical person living in the state was 10 years old when the Pension Ramp was passed in 1994. The majority of people living in the state (and a huge chunk of voters) were either not alive or not old enough to vote back then. We didn’t create the Ramp or the underfunded pensions, but we are the ones who are going to make full pension payments and solve this problem so it doesn’t carry on to our children.
