The Illinois Supreme Court struck down Illinois’ pension reform law on Friday, May 15. Public Act 98-0599, the result of the work of the Conference Committee on Pension Reform, aimed to gradually reduce Illinois’ unfunded public employee pension liability.
Currently, nearly a quarter of Illinois’ budget is used to pay pensions or to pay off past loans taken out to cover short-term pension costs. Illinois’ current unfunded liability is around $105 billion and growing, and in recent years the state has carried the dubious distinction of having the worst funded pension system in the nation.
Following the ruling, members of the Senate Republican caucus affirmed their commitment to continuing to work toward finding a constitutional solution to fix Illinois’ pension system that preserves earned benefits, and eases the burden on Illinois taxpayers.