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CAT Tracks for April 2, 2012
THREAT TO IL TRS |
The threat to reduce the pensions of teachers who have already retired is wrong on so many fronts, I shall not even try to address them.
The bottom line...
...to do so would violate the Illinois Constitution.
The Pension Clause of the 1970 Illinois Constitution provides:
Hopefully, the "leaking" of the (confidential memo) "threat" by Dick Ingram (the director of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System) was nothing more than a "trial balloon" that will quickly burst.
If not...
...if this idea takes flight, well, there will be an unholy war!
From the KFVS TV Channel 12 Website...
Ill. pension director suggests cut for the retired
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The director of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System is warning that financial troubles are so great it could consider reducing pension benefits to teachers who have already retired.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports Sunday (http://bit.ly/HyuHQj) that it obtained a confidential memo written by Dick Ingram that contains the warning of that politically explosive possibility.
In it, Ingram says the state's largest pension system has been underfunded for decades and is no longer confident the state will continue to pay it enough money to remain solvent.
The suggestion is an indication of just how high concerns have risen over Illinois' pension problems.
Ingram says pension funding is under severe threat from the state's unpaid bills, soaring Medicaid costs and the $85 billion in overall unfunded pension liability.
Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com
Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired. (1970 Illinois Constitution, Article XIII, Section 5)
(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: For one in-depth analysis of the "reduction" question, click here.)
