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* I noticed something missing from my e-mail in-box today. When the Tribune disclosed that union leaders were getting public pensions for little actual public work, House Republican Leader Tom Cross’ office pounced with denunciations and pledges to pass legislation.
So far, though, nothing today from Leader Cross about how Illinois State University put dozens of people into the state university pension plan, including 40 employees of the Special Olympics Illinois, five employees of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, four employees of the Illinois Principals Association, the executive director of the Association of Illinois Middle-Grade Schools and two employees of the Illinois Association for Supervision of Curriculum Development. Not to mention all the retirees currently collecting pensions. Sheesh…
How do these leaders of private organizations get in? Because of Illinois State’s unilateral decision to label them university employees, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has found. Any person with that designation can participate in the State Universities Retirement System, known as SURS, and state law allows colleges and universities to make the determination.
Illinois State, a public university based in Normal with a history of teacher education, does not hire or supervise the employees on its rolls who work for the five nonprofit organizations. Nor does the school fund or determine their salaries. Instead, the groups funnel payroll and benefit payments to the university, which then writes paychecks to the employees and sends pension contributions to SURS.
Illinois State spokesman Jay Groves said the partnerships with the education associations “are all directly aligned with the goals and mission of this institution. It makes sense for us because we are the education leader in the state.” […]
About 40 Special Olympics employees are considered university employees, including Breen, who makes $120,000 a year.
“It is the system we have grown up in and been involved in, and it is such a huge benefit to both groups,” Breen said. “I am not trying to hide anything. I am not ashamed of the relationship. I am proud of the relationship. People will decide what needs to be done or what legislators need to do.” […]
Retired employees of these groups also are collecting benefits, but it’s difficult to track how many because their past employer is listed as Illinois State in SURS records.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. As respected as these groups are, it’s more than a little nuts to allow universities to decide on their own whether to include anyone in a publicly funded pension plan. How about a bill, Leader?
* There may be one reason missing from this story about the fall of DUI arrests and crashes…
Between 2007 and 2010, drunken driving arrests fell 16 percent, and the number of fatalities from alcohol-related crashes dropped 33 percent, according to figures from state police and the Illinois Department of Transportation. Fatalities this year have fallen even further in preliminary reports, to less than half of what they were just three years ago.
Anti-drunken driving advocates maintain the decrease is tied not just to societal shifts but to the strengthening of DUI laws and their enforcement. Other observers point to the economic downturn that has resulted in fewer people going out drinking.
“What’s the one thing that’s happened in the last three or four years that’s common to everyone? It’s the economy, stupid,” said Don Ramsell, a Wheaton attorney whose reputation defending DUI suspects has prompted the nickname “DUI Don.”
The state smoking ban went into effect on January 1, 2008. Since then, many smokers I know have stayed home rather than go out so much.
I’m not saying this is the only reason, but I think it’s one of them, and an important one at that.
* Something very important is missing from this piece about the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority…
Though Team Emanuel says the new board members are charged with reforming the sports authority, insiders think their ultimate mission will be much bigger, such as reviving Mr. Thompson’s plan of a few years ago to buy or otherwise finance the rebuilding of Wrigley Field.
[Former Senate President Emil Jones, the new board chairman] wants to do it. “Wrigley Field is Chicago,” as he puts it. “If we can do something to help . . . .” Chicago attorney and ISFA board member Manny Sanchez terms it “something that is likely to come up on our agenda.” And Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, as recently as when I talked to him last week, says he still believes in a public role—when the time is right.
What’s missing? Emil Jones is a Cub fan. That shouldn’t be a surprise. Lots of black South Siders of a certain age grew up hating the White Sox because Sox fans were not exactly the most, um, racially open-minded folks on the planet. He’s gonna do what he can for his team.
* And I’m not sure if anything is missing from this pretty comprehensive story about everything that was accomplished by the General Assembly in 2011, but maybe you can read it and see if they skipped over something.
* Let’s add a roundup…
* Editorial: You, Molaro, Burke and $3 million
* Drug dealer assumed he was bribing Ald. Ed Burke
* Pension peril: Illinois’ TRS goes higher-risk with investments: The plan also is dabbling in volatile derivatives, including wagers on Brazilian interest rates, and credit default swaps on sovereign debt from Italy and Spain.
* Illinois schools snare most R&D investment in the Midwest
* Illinois Loses Again in ‘Race to the Top’
* Preckwinkle Endorses Fritchey
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:05 pm
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What do Dusty, LaTroy, Milton, Baylor, and Jacques think about Cub fans of this generation? Where is Jackies retired 42 displayed at WF? Isn’t Emil just a bad judge of baseball?
Comment by Just Asking Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:22 pm
No, no and no on corporate welfare for Wrigley Field.
The Ricketts are billionaires who bought the team and stadium with their eyes wide open. If they want to float bonds through the sports facility authority, put on a ticket surcharge.
The Ricketss have no leverage, by the way. There’s not a a city looking for a MLB team right now, and the only spot that would make economic sense in the region is Arlington Park.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:26 pm
I could be mistaken but I thought that the “Preckwinkle-Piccioli” bill specifically included folks from these organizations. It was a somewhat known fact around the capitol that the folks from these groups were also feeding at the trough.
Comment by 1776 Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:41 pm
I wholeheartedly support the amazing work Special Olympics does, and have donated time and effort in support of their endeavors.
That said,, if you’re not paying into the SURS, TRS, etc. public pension systems, you should not be collecting benefits from that system.
As for Wrigley? It’s a great time and wonderful landmark. The team, however, just decided it was a more important priority to spend an extra $20 million buying a McDonald’s adjacent to the stadium… so now let’s re-ignite the concept of giving/using taxpayer $ to the team???
Um… no thank you.
Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:43 pm
You left out the part about how ISU sends payments to SURS to cover the normal cost of the employer’s share of the pension benefits. So it’s not like the state is just on the hook for paying for the pension.
Comment by DeepDish Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:54 pm
The Ricketts buy the Mickey D’s across the street and plead “poor” on the renovation.
Dopes.
The Ricketts are the people who by a “fixer-up” house, then complain … they have a “fixer-up” house!
The Dopey kid Tom Ricketts has to thank his Dad for making a billion dollars so he could get the ultimate play-thing, the Chicago Cubs. How sad is to watch Genetic-Lottery winner kids pretend they know somethng … from what their parents made.
No state money, go earn some cash, Tommy-Boy!
Also,
Tom Cross … look, you can’t just go on a soapbox and rail on something, then decide, “I can look the other way THIS time.” These are the typical actions that others bring up to me when I tell them to give the GOP, and especially the HGOP another look.
Typical Cross, loud on “ethic lapses”, quiet on “ethical moves”.
Congratulations, Pot, meet Kettle … best of luck to you both.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 1:59 pm
DeepDish: What about the employee’s share of pension benefits? Who pays that? Are they paying into the system or not?
Not trying to be flippant, just genuinely asking to double-check and make sure I’m not misunderstanding something. Are these employees paying into the SURS system or not?
If not, that’s an extra $x not deducted from their paychecks for SURS pension contrbutions… which other people will be paying for many, many years.
Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 2:01 pm
1776 - Nope, that bill was very specific in that it only applied to members of labor organizations who participated.
Comment by Katiedid Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 2:03 pm
Shock - I’m not 100% positive, but I would be surprised if those participants did not pay SURS contributions. It’s possible that it’s part of their negotiated salary (i.e., the employer pays it for them), but it should still be sent on their behalf to SURS.
Comment by Katiedid Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 2:06 pm
That Special Olympics should have been given a sweetheart deal that gives them a state pension is appalling. How about the state providing pensions to all of the employees of non-profits providing services to individuals with disabilities all over Illinois?
Oh, right. They don’t actually pay for the services they’ve contracted with those agencies to do while the agencies have to take out bank loans to make payroll.
No wonder people are disgusted with our legislature and system of how things get done.
Comment by Aldyth Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 2:52 pm
I thought Old Man Ricketts (who really owns the Cubs, it’s his money) was against government bailouts of pro sports teams.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 2:52 pm
Full normal cost contributions were paid. Employer and employee share. Had the state been tied to the same contributions no one would care. That said, it’s legitimate to review all find employers including the formentioned ones and groups like IML. You can make arguments for and against many employers, and a reasonable debate is possible on the issue however unlikely that may be.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 3:05 pm
Whether or not the various organizations’ employees pay into SURS isn’t the real issue. It’s the fact that ISU, the State of Illinois, and ultimately the taxpayers have no say in the employees’ salaries. The higher the salary, the higher the pension. We have enough problems without skewing the pensions upward without any say.
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 3:09 pm
Regarding the “they paid the employee and employer costs” argument.
If we want to go this way, then let’s let every employer and employee in Illinois buy into the state pension systems.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 3:19 pm
I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but the Crain’s article is very misleading regarding the various Rauh and Novy/Rauh studies of public pension systems.
To paraphrase, the article says that Rauh says the TRS system will run out of money in 2018 if the system earns an 8% return and the state contributes the cash necessary to cover annual new costs, thereby implying that that is what is happening.
However, that isn’t what is happening at all. The state is contributing new costs (normal costs) plus more than a billion dollars each year. The right question (the answer to which is difficult to simply induce from the Rauh and Novy/Rauh studies I’ve looked at) is when would the system run out of cash if the state continued its current practice (normal costs plus a substantial amount, growing each year)? Ingram could have answered that question for them, I don’t know if they asked him or not.
Sloppy reporting!
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 3:31 pm
Michelle Flaherty- we should have state or national pensions (other than ss) and health care, but the problem is our governments are not responsible enough to fund such programs which is why socialist programs do not always receive support from the American public. If we did have the fiscal discipline to institute such programs the savings would be astounding.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 3:44 pm
“And Cubs owner Tom Ricketts… says he still believes in a public role—when the time is right.”
Funny how sports owners are capitalists when it comes to revenues, but socialists when it comes to expenses.
Comment by JoeT Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 4:23 pm
“If we want to go this way, then let’s let every employer and employee in Illinois buy into the state pension systems. ”
No thank you. My TIAA-Cref funds are there, right now. If I quit/got fired tomorrow, my money would be available (with a cut going for the taxes I haven’t paid yet).
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 4:28 pm
I believe you will find that these education groups are furthering the interest and intent of governmental bodies (i.e. School districts) and are therefore serving a public purpose while contributing full normal costs (employee/employer/state) to the public pension system.
Comment by Sportsman Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 5:08 pm
Regarding DUI and the smoking ban — since the ban went into effect, I personally have spent way more time in bars than I did before. I suspect there are a lot more people like me.
Comment by Skeeter Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 5:28 pm
How long can the Trib keep this pension kick going? How much more is out there to uncover?
Comment by The Elderly Man You Used to Love Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 6:20 pm
The bankrupt Tribbies are actually uncovering nothing. They are admitting that their 2-3 person SPI bureau and reporters covering higher and state govt in Chicago “missed” these stories year after year.
Quite a set of blunders don’t ya think
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 6:26 pm
Well, they missed them because the Civic Federation hadn’t yet tipped them off.
Comment by The Elderly Man You Used to Love Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 6:50 pm
Civic Committee, sorry…
Comment by The Elderly Man You Used to Love Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 6:51 pm
$5 beers at the bars are not helping either ,$10 case of pbr at home for me.
Comment by foster brooks Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 7:51 pm
skeeter
While many smokers don’t drink much, heavy drinkers are usually smokers.
Comment by reformer Monday, Dec 19, 11 @ 9:03 pm