Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) expressed frustration about the Democrats’ failure to live up to its promise of cooperating fully with Republicans in creating fair maps.
Durkin also went as far as 2016 to cite House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 58 (HJRCA 58) which was a comprehensive bipartisan measure to put up an Independent Commission made up of eight members appointed by the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. The bottom line is that the Democrats have absolutely no intention of holding to their promises on fair maps,” Durkin said. “The ones which they campaigned on and a fair map process which over 600,00 Illinoisans signed a petition on a few years ago to say that that is the way in which we should move forward.
Capitol Fax com - Your Illinois News Radar » Rhetoric heats up over remap capitolfax.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capitolfax.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Illinois’ pension debt reached an all-time high of $317 billion as of June 30, 2020, according to credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service – more than double the state’s official estimate. The need for a constitutional amendment to allow for structural pension reforms has never been greater to fix state finances that are dragging down the state’s economy.
Illinois’ pension crisis has been rated the worst in the nation, measured by pension debt relative to state gross domestic product, since fiscal year 2014. Pension debt increased 19% from $261 billion at the end of fiscal year 2019.
Official reporting of pension debt by the state of Illinois puts the debt at less than half of Moody’s estimate, $144.4 billion at the end of fiscal year 2020. State estimates use much more optimistic, and less realistic, assumptions about investment returns.
Moody s report: Illinois pension debt reaches record-high $317 billion illinoispolicy.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from illinoispolicy.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(Editor s note: This article was published first at Illinois Policy Institute).
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan will start receiving $7,100 in monthly pension benefits starting in March, but just more than a year later his benefits jump 78% to $12,600 per month.
The next year will bring him $66,000 extra thanks to a special pension sweetener available only to politicians, which the former speaker helped pass. It was eliminated for lawmakers elected after 2002.
Madigan is projected to collect more than $2.9 million in lifetime pension benefits, assuming he collects them for 17 years. He contributed just over $350,000 during his 50-year career, or 12% of his total expected payout. He’ll get that back within three years