[taildragger]

Illinois should take the hit and convert everyone to only a 401K plan now. If that is unaffordable, they should hit every state employee’s (exempting those already retired) pension whether they’re retiring in 5 years or 40 years.

They should look to Oakland County MI, run by L Brooks Patterson ( A conservative "R" ). in the 90's Brooks got the Union guys to go along with a 401a yes a cousin to the 401k and they have an A+ Bond Rating and they are North of Detroit. It is a great story especially juxtaposed to what occurred in neighboring Wayne County ( home of Detroit ) which is also in deep doo-doo BTW...

[poinq]

According to the Illinois supreme court, the state cannot diminish the pensions in any way. They are reading this to mean that they can’t even change the deal in the future. So, short of firing all Illinois workers and re-hiring others under a new plan. Illinois is stuck paying out these pensions for every current worker from now on.