Courtesy of Mish.
This is my second column for the Illinois Policy Institute, where I am now a senior fellow.
The article was written well ahead of the Moody’s downgrade of Chicago pensions last Friday, with a final edit made on Friday, and posted then on the IPI website.
Illinois Pension Plans 39% Funded
A “Special Pension Briefing” last November, shows the Illinois State Retirement Systems are in dismal shape.
Unfunded Liabilities
- Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS): $61.6 Billion
- State Retirement Systems (SERS): $61.6 Billion
- State Universities Retirement System (SURS): $21.6 Billion
- Judicial Retirement System (JRS): $1.5 Billion
- General Assembly Retirement System (GARS): $0.3 Billion
The above numbers show actuarial (smoothed) asset valuations, as does the following chart.
Summary of Liabilities and Unfunded Ratios
click on any chart for sharper image
Congratulations go to the Illinois General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) for having one of the worst, (if not the worst) pension plan in the entire nation. It is 16% funded.
No doubt, that increases the pressure of the General Assembly to put the burden of bailing out the system on the backs of Illinois taxpayers….
