Patch on Politics

Retiring Illinois Lawmakers Make Bank on the Way Out

The representatives and senators leaving office in January 2013 will see millions of dollars in pension payments, figures far more sizable than they would've seen in the private sector.

Are you worried about your own retirement? With the downturn in the economy, did your 401k and savings take a big hit? If so, you're like millions of other Americans forced to confront a dramatically different outlook for their post-work years. But one group of pensioners is largely insulated from such concerns — outgoing Illinois lawmakers. The retirement benefits Illinois legislators receive are far more generous than those most of their constituents could collect working full-time jobs, reports Scott Reeder of the Reeder Report, using data from an Illinois Policy Institute analysis in a piece published on Watchdog.org. The anticipated pension benefits of the 34 lawmakers who will depart the state legislature in January show these …

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Sandack, Experts Talk Pensions at Downers Grove Chamber Event

A panel of experts gathered in Woodridge on Wednesday to talk about potential fixes for Illinois' pension woes.

When it comes to state pensions, Illinois is in a financial hole as deep as $90 billion and digging out will be a formidable task, according to a panel of west suburban experts who met this week to discuss the issue. The Downers Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a panel of experts Wednesday at Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge to discuss how Illinois got in the state-pension hole and what it might take to get out. "Pensions have created the majority of the problem in our non-discretionary spending," said Lee Daniels, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and now a Distinguished Fellow and Special Assistant to the President of Elmhurst College. Daniels moderated the discussion with a panel of experts …

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