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The other day, the Chicago Tribune editorial page thundered that gubernatorial candidates needed to first address the state’s massive pension debt before proposing any new spending programs. Looks Like Topinka read it.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka warned that if she is elected, interest groups from schools to health groups shouldn’t expect many new programs or money.
It’s time the state starts living within its means and paying off existing debts, she said.
That requires putting the majority of all new revenue toward paying off the pension debt that has mounted for years and made the solvency of Illinois’ retirement funds the worst in the nation, she said.
“You can’t keep using the pension fund as a piggy bank,” Topinka told the Journal Star editorial board Wednesday, where she was interviewed for a potential endorsement. […]
“We’re just going to have to get used to the idea that much of any new revenue is going to have to go to pensions,” she said. “There’s only one way you solve that pension problem: you pay it off.”
Not exactly a sexy campaign slogan. Next move, Tribune.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 6:04 am
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Not a slogan a fact! Blago has us contributing to pension fund that we may never see at the rate he is dipping into it! Let me reiterate long term state workers do not make as much as the media would lead you to believe. It is the short term patronage, such as Okun, that make the big bucks. The majority of the workers are there for the benefits such as the pension and it is criminal to tap into it to balance a budget that Blago has yet to address.
Comment by angry and outraged Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 6:18 am
There should be no doubt anymore that she has conservative principles
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 7:03 am
What? Topinka wants to actually pay for mandated responsibilities??
For the last three years we have been told that borrowing billions and billions and billions of dollars and dumping a much larger debt on succeeding generations of Illinois taxpayers was the secret to solving various and sundry fiscal crises.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 7:06 am
Well, I think your anger and outrage is somewhat justified but also misplaced. Nobody “raided” or “dipped into” any pension fund. Nobody had their pension reduced. Money was paid to the funds, just not the amount mandated by a law passed by a Republican legislature and touted by Gov. Edgar after he figured out that someone else would be governor when the law would break the state.
While I believe that Judy’s remarks are really cheap pandering for the Trib’s endorsement which she will probably get anyway, she does make a good point that the situation with state pensions must be addressed sooner or later.
Should state services to the needy be cut to pay pensions…obviously not. There are several ways to shore up the funds without raising taxes or cutting services. One way, that the governor did support and sign, is to end the abuse of end of career bonuses, which will save tens of millions over the next several decades. Another way is to refinance the debt at today’s still favorable interest rates. After the election is over Gov. Blagojevich will be able to garner some Repub support in the legislature to address this growing problem. Until then, direct your outrage to the people really responsible…the legislators and governors of the past who allowed the problem to fester and get worse each year.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 7:15 am
Where was the Tribune editorial board when Big Jim and Slim Jim did not contribute the required amounts to the pension systems?
Comment by Smitty Irving Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 7:31 am
As state treasurer, JBT was in the best position to inform the public of the financial disaster the Governor is leading us into. At worst she has no idea how bad it really is, or at best, she was willing to give the Gov a pass rather then rock the boat and inform the public as is her duty. Sorry Judy, you don’t fall asleep at the wheel and expect to get the keys to a shiney new car.
That being said, the TRib will endorse Judy. The other two chicago candidates have no legislative experience and they will not endorse a downstater.
The trip Poll earlier this week showed JBT’s lead even bigger then her own internal numbers. This and the poll are just fluff. It is not objective media, it is a self fulfilling prophesy. Build up a candidate, wag the dog with a poll and an press release, justify your endorsement.
The Chicago Dems controle the Trib this has been proven time after time. They will endorse the candidate the Machine wants then try to destroy the rest of the field.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 8:11 am
I know where Judy can up with $29.5 million for the pensions. She can go after her buddies that invested in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel down in Springfield. They have stiffed the Illinois taxpayers with a loan that they refuse to pay off that is now over $29,500,000.00. This is the same loan that Judy was trying to forgive them for by writing it off except former Illinois Attorney-General Jim Ryan would not allow her to do so.
Coincidentally, several of these deadbeat investors in this hotel are her friends and huge political contributers to her campaign. What a surprise! Until she goes after her own deadbeat friends and political contributors, her tough talk about dealing with the states’s financial crisis is meaningless and simply “telling the voters what they want to hear”. She reminds me of a guy named George who told me what I wanted to hear and I once made the mistake of voting for.
Comment by Beowulf Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 8:20 am
We need someone to say no.This state can not borrow billions more just to look good.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 8:21 am
JBT will do what every other Republicans has done for years.. She is no different.The pension problem didn’t start 3 years ago. It started along time ago under Republican rule.
Comment by Illinois Democrat Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 8:41 am
In dealing with the candidates, the middle class needs to rise up and say 1)no tax increases, 2)cut the massive, underworked state bureacracy and redirect the money to schools in such a way that property taxes everywhere (not just in Chicago) are significantly reduced 3)implement real ethics reform 4) fix the pension financing and 5)stop giving our money to illegal immigrants via All-kids, “affordable housing,” free state university education et cetera. We can’t afford to take care of the world. We have to take care of ourselves first. Emergency help, sure. But supporting hordes of illegals permanently at the expense of current citizens..no. There are immigration lotteries into the US. Illegals should be sent home and enocouraged to apply.
Blago clearly can’t do this. If he were a CEO insteads of a government employee, he’d have been voted out by the board already.
We are “the board” for our state. We need to support the individual who comes up with a credible plan for achieving the above.
Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 8:48 am
Wow…for Bill to use the term “cheap pandering” to describe JBT promising to fix our state’s biggest crisis after continuously praising Blago for enacting “policies” that, let’s face it, are really expensive pandering that has made our financial mess far worse…guess it is time to get the hip waders out ’cause the rhetoric is going to start getting pretty deep around here.
Comment by Bluefish Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 9:31 am
Bill – “Nobody “raided†or “dipped into†any pension fund. Nobody had their pension reduced. Money was paid to the funds, just not the amount mandated by a law passed by a Republican legislature and touted by Gov. Edgar after he figured out that someone else would be governor when the law would break the state.â€
In the strictest sense, you are right in your first and second sentences. But the state is going to have to eventually repay – with interest – the 2 years worth of payments that the Democrats delayed last session…..on top of the payment obligations for each succeeding year. That, my friend, is going to break the state….not the law passed by the Republicans under Edgar (btw, are you admitting that the actions of the Speaker and Governor last session were in violation of state law, and thus not just negligent but criminally negligent?)
Illinois Democrat, et al, you are right that our state’s pension system has never been perfect. And perhaps Ms. Topinka has been a part of the problem in the past - but that doesn’t make what she says in the above cited passage any less true. Both parties are now guilty of mismanaging our state’s pension funds (and finances in general). But what the Governor and Speaker did last session was criminally irresponsible. If the payment schedule mandated by Edgar’s law was too much for the state too afford, why not just reduce it via legislation…..instead of ignoring it and hold back the entire payments for the next two years all together in order to fund the election year pork-barreling?
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 9:52 am
GOP,
The Speaker and legislature passed and the Gov signed legislation reducing the amount required to be paid into the systems. Money WAS paid in, just not the amount formerly required by the Edgar solution. Why was the pension holiday of ‘05 so much more serious and repulsive to you than any of the others from 1976-2000?
No one did anything “criminal” here and you know it.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:00 am
Sorry for the double posting, but I was multitasking and forgot a few thoughts –
To continue my point to Bill, the impact of the Governor and Speaker’s payment deferments is going to break the state. The state is going to have a hard enough time funding it’s pensions in the not-too-distance future, and having to play catch-up isn’t going to help. Perhaps Gov. Blagojevich can tout last year’s deal as nothing to worry about because he knows someone else will be governor when it’s impact forces the state to either reduce benefits (or state services) or raise taxes?
“After the election is over Gov. Blagojevich will be able to garner some Repub support in the legislature to address this growing problem. Until then, direct your outrage to the people really responsible…the legislators and governors of the past who allowed the problem to fester and get worse each year.â€
- Nice. So you’re essentially saying: ‘hey, it’s never been perfect, so it doesn’t matter that we made it even worse……we’ll fix it after the election……we promise!!’
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:03 am
Yep,
That is pretty much what Im saying.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:08 am
Bill, you are right….thanks for the correction, and I apologize for shooting too much from the hip.
But the point still remains: if the Edgar solution really was too much (and threatened to break the state), that’s one thing. But they obviously reduced the payment much more than was really necessary, and the pork-barrel budget INCREASES funded by that pension payment cut are proof. How can you pretend that isn’t irresponble?
The gov didn’t want to make decision about the budget in the short term that would hurt him in his re-election bid, so he made decisions that hurt the state in the long term.
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:09 am
Bill, thank’s for your 10:08 comment. Perhaps it’s just cynical partisanship, but I don’t trust this Governor to fulfill that promise.
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:12 am
again, sorry for the multiple postings,
Bill, I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree about who did a worse job managing this in the past, and who can be trusted to do it better in the future.
But can you at least admit that the deal cut in the last session was irresponsible in that they reduced the payment much more than was really necessary, in order to fund election year pork-barreling?
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:20 am
History is history as far as past governors. The point is if we re-elect Blago we will have 4 more years of senseless debt,absolute corruption and pointless do nothing headlines.We need to look for a new beginning in this state.You people keep talking about AllKids well now we find out it isn’t that good of a program because it will not cover as many kids as they say plus it will end up being another borrow and spend program.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:27 am
One person’s pork barrel is another person’s vital, critical, can’t do without, porgram. Yes I admit, it was irresponsible but without any support on the other side of the aisle it seemed to me to be the only politically feasible solution. I would rather have had them raise taxes and be done with it. Increasing the income tax by 1% would yield $5-7 billion per year. Unfortunately, that is the kind of pay to play that the electorate would really object to and that is why I will never be elected to anything.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:32 am
Bill, I wish you were governor. I’d vote for you in a second.
Comment by Vicki Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 10:42 am
Here’s a small sample of the vital, critical, can’t do without, porgrams included in those budget increases:
$920,000 for the Chicago Aerospace Education Initiative
$400,000 grant to the Little Black Pearl Arts Center in Chicago
$94,000 for the Joffrey Ballet’s Sinfonietta Orchestra
$100,000 for the Chicago International Film Festival
$200,000 for the Chicago International House (Electronic) Music Festival
$33,000 to paint the water tower in Hillside
$75,000 for street scaping in River Forest
- and my favorite:
$1 million for the Beverly Arts Center.
Sure, that’s only a few million…..but this stuff adds up, you know. And that’s money that could/should have gone towards making pension payments.
Oh well. Thank god everyone got what they needed. Blago dodged making tough decisions about the pension system until after his re-election. The Dem legislators got plenty of pet projects without having to find a new revenue stream to fund them. And the next governor will have to deal with the long-term fiscal impact of delaying those payments.
I suppose that’s just good governing, right?
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 11:20 am
GOP,
What’s the matter? You don’t like art?
The Beverly Art Center is my favorite, too. Everybody north of I-80 is happy. Now,THAT’s what I call statesmanship!
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 11:28 am
I like how you call it program. I know it’s a typo, but I actually think we should start calling these abominations “Porkgrams”
Comment by Larry Horse Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 11:45 am
Let me get this straight. The republicans created the pension mess and Jim Edgar is to blame because he wanted to pay a little as we go, rather then have to pay all at once. Right.
Fact 1: Prior to the Blago admin the state of IL had 9 Billion in serviced Debt.
Fact 2: In the past three years the debt has gone from 9 to 22 Billion. The last 13 of which is not serviced, meaning we do not know how we will pay for it. Pension are just a part of the problem.
Fact 3: JBT as treasurer has sat by and watched this happen. She as, treasurer should have been raising this issue everyday to the people.
It is amazing to me that Blago could be re-elected even though he has put more debt on our state in 3 years then all the Governors since 1818 by buying votes with scams like AllKids. If the complete ignorance of voters is so overwhelming that all a guy has to do to overcome any amount of corruption is to promote a bunch of unfunded feel good projects we are in trouble.
Pensions are a focal point of the overall mess. The Gov decided to ignore our schedule of obligations and we will have to pay all at once very soon. JBT cannot avoid responsibility as she has watched it happen.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 1:13 pm
Bill, funny…..very funny, indeed.
the Patriot - well said!
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 1:26 pm
So, Judy is going to play Jim Edgar. Miss No, modeled after Governor No.
That will be fun to watch.
Comment by Cal Skinner Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 1:29 pm
I thought Brady was angling to be Governor No.
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 1:47 pm
You guys are cracking us up today
Trib controlled by Dems
$2.8 million in listed projects…in a 55+ BILLION budget that does not represent a decent tip. And that assumes the listed projects are not worthwhile.
Edgar skipped pension payments altogether before 94. After the 2005 restructuring the state will continue to make huge current year payments.
Where was all the outrage when United decided to chump out every taxpayer in the nation when their bungling caught up with them.
thanks for the laughs it helps demonstrates why AccordianGal is toast
Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 2:12 pm
Reddbyrd:
Trib controlled by Dems – yes, that statement is ridiculous
$2.8 million in listed projects…in a 55+ BILLION budget that does not represent a decent tip. And that assumes the listed projects are not worthwhile. –
– that’s not the legislature’s money to just through around, no matter how small the relative percentage. Shirely Madigan could have easily raised $1 mil for the Beverly Arts Center on her own…..there is no reason that her husband should have given OUR money for it. That is money that could have gone towards our pension system. You know what they say, a $1 million saved is a $1 million earned!
Edgar skipped pension payments altogether before 94.
- I forgot, the Governor gets to write and approve the budget all on his own…..the Speaker (still Madigan from 90-94) bears no responsibility for budget decisions back then?
After the 2005 restructuring the state will continue to make huge current year payments.
- but not “huge†enough to keep the system solvent – ie, keep a later governor from deciding between cutting benefits, cutting other state spending, or raising taxes .
Comment by grand old partisan Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 2:31 pm
For those of you who wish to keep blabbing about how JBT stood aside while spending was going crazy in Illinois please read this tid bit from the Illinois Constitution.
SECTION 18. TREASURER - DUTIES
The Treasurer, in accordance with law, shall be responsible for the safekeeping and investment of monies and securities deposited with him, and for their disbursement upon order of the comptroller.
(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
It would look to me that there are other factors involve in the distribution of funds than the treasurer.
Just the fact that debt in the state went from $7-22 billion in three years is insane. Add to it that there still is a large group of people who want to blame the “budget” crisis on past administrations it would seem that there is a bit of misinformation floating around.
BTW. Where did that $15 billion go? It couldn’t have gone to GRyan’s pork projects. I thought Blago stopped payments on those his first day in office.
The fiscal problem is also this administrations doing. Isn’t time yet to start to point fingers and assign blame where it belongs? Enough tired out recycled excuses.
Comment by Papa Legba Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 4:09 pm
Hey Pop,
You never said who you WOULD support.
Comment by Bill Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 4:37 pm
These comments are representative of the statewide problem; everyone wants to debate who did worse in the past in an attempt to assign blame to today’s problems. At this point, what good does it do to determine what % of fault Edgar or any other prior governor is responsible for.
We’re here today, and today we have a choice in making pension/debt funding a priority or not. The current administration and legislature has clearly shown it’s not a priority, nad has in fact exacerbated the problem. That’s here and now.
I just hope to heck someone walks the walk real soon because the future financial health has already been compromised. I just wonder how much farther behind our elected officials are willing to let the state go just to save their positions.
I also wonder how many political hacks, voters and poster like yourselves are willing to watch this go on just so their party of choice can remain in power on the backs of our futures.
Comment by Aaron Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 4:45 pm
No Bill, I’m just pointing out the obvious. Something which you tend to dismiss and/or ignore.
Good points Aaron. Thx. Papa
Comment by Papa Legba Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 5:46 pm
Blago’s campaign workers are working the spin. I hope they didn’t use the campaign computer.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 7:51 pm
Judy isn’t angling for the Trib endorsement here, she’s angling for AFSCME’s support in the Fall.
A few points worth making, for those interested in FACTS:
- The state’s pension funds were 89% fully funded in mid-2000. Under George Bush’s stewardship of the economy, the state’s investment portfolio lost $14 Billion.
George Bush, his failed tax cuts, and the mushrooming FEDERAL debt are the real reason the state’s pension investments are stuck in neutral. The DOW Jones closed today lower than it was in
- The Governor’s pension bonding plan was supported by Republicans in the GA and by Judy Baar Topinka.
- None of the public employee unions, including AFSCME, opposed the pension reform bill of 2005, and neither did Topinka at the time. No Republican offered an alternative budget. Had the Democrats not passed a budget, averting overtime, you can bet the result would have been the same as the last overtime budget — chocked full of pork projects to secure the necessary 3/5 vote, and higher debt and fees.
The Governor has made plenty of real misteps. Trying to blame him for the state of our pension investments is childish. We can argue about whether or not to make pension funding a higher priority, but as Topinka recognizes, that means making education funding a lower priority. Most voters in Illinois don’t support that position.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Feb 9, 06 @ 9:52 pm
YDD-we’ve had this discourse before, and sone of your “facts” are still WRONG.
1) The funds as a group were never 89% funded. Only SURS got that high, and they dropped like a rock when the markets fell.
2) The market downturn, and performance decline in the funds, began in FY2000 and continued through FY 01 and 02. All funds reported positive returens for FY 03. To the extent “W” took office more than halfway through this period, I find it hard to blame him for Illinois pension funds losing money before he got elected.
3) You’re mistaken about the $14 billion. That figure has little to do with actual losses on actual investmesnts. It represents the total change in unfunded liabilities for all the funds between FY 99 or FY2000 and FY 2003. There is no question the funds lost money, some a lot more than the others, but that number also includes the $2.4 billion cost of the State early retirement program and 3-4 years of interest on the existing unfunded liability, the latter being the biggest component of the total.
4) Not all the state’s pension investments are “stuck in neutral.” One of the three systems has made over $ 2 billion since July of last year alone. Perhaps you mean the funded status is stuck in neutral. There we would agree.
I’ll stay off the politics and union stuff, but for those who are going to debate it, please do it with good numbers. YOu don’t have to go any farther than a couple websites.
Comment by NumbersGuy Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:18 am