Progress Illinois

In his Daily Herald article today on the latest tally of Illinois' outstanding pension liability (it's $62 billion, by the way), reporter John Patterson includes this important passage:

Political observers and pension experts agree the main reason for this massive liability is because the state for decades failed to contribute the required amount to the pension systems. School districts, teachers and state workers have all been required to make their contributions, but the state routinely spent its contribution elsewhere. Each time it did, it added to the debt that also gets compounded with interest.

While legislators -- and conservatives in particular -- like to suggest that the size of individual pension benefits are to blame for the ballooning liability, the story described above is often obscured.  Over the past decade or so, state legislators and governors have essentially used the pension system as a credit card -- all to avoid passing an income tax increase.  Now the due date is approaching and the balance is compounding.  You can delve deeper into this issue here and here.

Reporters and government watchdogs are up in arms that leaders in the Illinois State Senate are holding a closed-door meeting in Springfield today with state budget experts from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). While the state constitution makes clear that "sessions of each house of the General Assembly and meetings of committees, joint committees, and legislative commissions shall be open to the public," Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) is calling the bipartisan meeting a "joint caucus" session, exempting it from normal regulations. That sets a disturbing precedent, especially when all members are present and the details of the discussion are so crucial to the governance of the state. What's more confusing is that NCSL officials are scheduled to hold a press conference at 11 a.m., immediately following the session. Why not just let reporters in from the beginning?

(UPDATE at 10:33 AM: Here is Cullerton's explanation. Apparently, he's worried that the participants won't "freely" ask questions about the budget for fear of embarassment if reporters are in the room.)

It's been nothing short of infuriating to watch Illinois lawmakers ignore the budget crisis as education, medical care, and human services for the state's neediest are gutted.  During a Monday night lecture, Gov. Pat Quinn's chief of staff Jerry Stermer, the former executive director of Voices for Illinois Children, offered his take into on the ongoing lack of action in Springfield:

“I asked [a group of lawmakers] how many people received welfare checks in Illinois on a monthly basis and got complete silence. ... This is nothing our political leaders have focused on. They have focused on getting their members elected and reelected. They are not grasping the detail of public policy.” 

Read the whole thing here.