Quantcast
Channel: Illinois Civil Justice League » adomite
Viewing all 762 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

July 29, 2015

July 29, 2015, 7:01 am
$
0
0
Justice Stewart To Retire From Fifth District; Seat Will Be Wide Open In 2016
From the Madison County Record
Brace yourself, southern Illinois, there's going to be an open seat race for the Fifth District Appellate Court next year.
Justice Bruce Stewart recently announced that he will not seek retention to another 10-year term in the 2016 general election.
Stewart, a Democrat from Carbondale, said he plans to retire to spend more time with his family when his term ends on Dec. 5 next year.
His retirement will create a vacancy that could play out as an another expensive judicial contest in the Fifth Judicial District, which encompasses the state's 37 southern most counties.
Stewart won his appellate court seat in 2006 in a race against Stephen McGlynn, a Republican from Belleville. Last year, McGlynn won election as circuit judge in St. Clair County.
In the Stewart-McGlynn appellate court race, the two candidates spent nearly $3 million combined.
Citizens of the Fifth District have grown accustomed to contentious and costly judicial campaigns, as they play out as high stakes contests funded by special interests.
Last year, lawyers with financial interests in two separate billion dollar-plus cases invested $2 million in a last-minute, negative campaign against Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier as he sought retention to a second 10-year term. Karmeier was retained by a slim margin.
Karmeier, a Republican from Nashville, was first elected to the state's high court in 2004 in what was the most expensive state supreme court race ever in the country. More than $9 million was spent by both sides in a record that still holds. In that race, Karmeier defeated Gordon Maag, a Democrat from Glen Carbon.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
Search

July 30, 2015

July 30, 2015, 7:03 am
$
0
0
Courts Struggle With Court Reporter Shortage
From the Bloomington Pantagraph
The dwindling numbers of court reporters and the small pool of candidates in line to replace them has state leaders looking at options to ensure that an accurate record is maintained of court proceedings.
In the 11th Judicial Circuit, 16 of 20 court reporter positions are filled and provide coverage for felony and juvenile cases in McLean, Livingston, Logan, Woodford and Ford counties.
"We have to tell someone on a regular basis that they're not going to have a court reporter available," said William Scanlon, trial court administrator for the circuit. One vacancy has been open for three years, he said.
The shortage grows more critical each year as more court reporters approach retirement age, said Scanlon, noting that three current reporters are eligible to retire.
Electronic recording devices have been introduced in the majority of Illinois courts and soon will come to McLean County as one way of addressing the shortage.
The McLean County Board recently approved a $90,000 bid for audio system in six of 12 courtrooms at the Law and Justice Center. The system is similar to one used by the 4th District Appellate Court.
Scanlon cautioned that devices can be unreliable and should not be considered a suitable replacement for trained professionals.
"Technology is not the solution to every problem because it's not going to work every time. There's no guarantee that there won't be technical problems," said Scanlon.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
↧

July 31, 2015

July 31, 2015, 5:05 am
$
0
0
Judge Nixes Move To Dismiss Class Action vs Lawyer Accused Of Using Crash Reports To Market To New Clients
From the Cook County Record
A Chicago personal injury lawyer specializing in litigation involving motor vehicle accidents will need to answer allegations he violated federal privacy laws in allegedly using personal information on police traffic accident reports to solicit potential new clients, after a federal judge declined to dismiss a class action lawsuit against him over the alleged business practices.
Earlier this year, Antonio and Karen Pavone sued the Law Offices of Anthony Mancini, of Chicago, alleging attorney Mancini and his firm had violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.
The case centers on a letter the Pavones alleged they received from Mancini about a week after they were involved in a traffic accident in Schaumburg on Jan. 15, 2015. The letter, which asked them to hire Mancini to represent them in any litigation or claims surrounding the accident, allegedly included an unredacted copy of the traffic crash report prepared by investigating police officers. That report included their names and personal information, as well as that of their minor son.
The Pavones said the letter, and in particular the report with the personal information, left them “shocked and dismayed, very concerned their personal information and that of their child had been transmitted to someone they did not know and used to solicit them for legal representation.”
Initially, the Pavones brought the complaint individually. However, in March it was made a class action, as the Pavones, through their attorneys, alleged Mancini’s actions in their case was a standard part of his firm’s strategy for landing new clients.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 3, 2015

August 3, 2015, 5:42 am
$
0
0
Illinois Lawmakers Evade Pressure To Buckle On Budget
From the Associated Press
Illinois has entered its second month without a state budget, and there's no indication that summer's dog days will present any new opportunities for a breakthrough in the squabbling between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrats who control the General Assembly.
Senators nonetheless will have to sweat over a tricky vote when they return to the Capitol on Tuesday — whether to reject a pay increase for themselves and violate the state Constitution, as the House already has done.
Both chambers will hold one-day sessions in what's become a weekly pilgrimage to Springfield. Lawmakers have approved no yearlong spending plan after they were unable to gather the votes necessary to override a gubernatorial veto of the one they adopted in May. And they continue to rail against Rauner's demands for pro-business structural reforms even as they appear to be buckling to his pressure to reject the automatic pay raise.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 4, 2015

August 4, 2015, 5:43 am
$
0
0
Supreme Court Gives Lisa Madigan More Time For Pension Appeal
From Crain's Chicago Business
In an action that's going to set some tongues wagging, the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a possible appeal of an Illinois Supreme Court decision in May that rejected a state pension reform law.
The action came yesterday when the court granted a request from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to extend from Aug. 6 until Sept. 10 the deadline for asking the court to take up the matter, a legal step known as filing a writ of certiorari.
The request for more time was granted by Justice Elena Kagan, who reviews such requests from Illinois and other states in the federal 7th Circuit. Kagan did not indicate why she approved the application.
Madigan's office has insisted that its request for more time is routine and had almost no comment yesterday evening. A Madigan spokesman wouldn't even say whether the office was pleased that its request was approved, or whether the high court action makes an eventual appeal more likely.
But state government insiders surely will take note, because in her petition to Kagan, Madigan argued that neither the General Assembly nor the Illinois Supreme Court may have the ability to cede core state functions, such as the state's ability to use its police powers to declare a fiscal emergency.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
↧

August 5, 2015

August 5, 2015, 5:44 am
$
0
0
DuPage Chief Judge: Traffic Court Judges Get Threats, Need More Security
From the Chicago Daily Herald
Spurred by threats against fellow jurists, DuPage Chief Judge Kathryn E. Creswell is calling for increased security at all four county traffic courts, even if it means moving one of them to a safer location.
Creswell shared her concerns during a Tuesday budget presentation, telling the county board's judicial and public safety committee she's concerned for the safety of all those in the satellite courts.
"I don't think that the right question to ask is how many incidents (have happened)," Creswell told county board members, "but how can we prevent one from happening."
"It's not a question of if it's going to happen," she said. "It's a question of when."
Creswell said judges can become targets of "disgruntled litigants" and it can happen regardless of whether a judge is hearing a felony, divorce, foreclosure or traffic case.
She cited several examples in recent years where DuPage judges have been targeted by those threatening to cause harm.
In July 2013, a former Wheaton man, Gordon Vanderark, was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison for soliciting a prison buddy in 2011 to kill a DuPage County judge, a prosecutor and two other people. Vanderark concocted the murder-for-hire plot while serving a lengthy prison term for his 10th DUI.
Last August, a former Western Springs man was sentenced to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to stalking Creswell. John Euwema admitted to anonymously sending a package to Creswell's home in July 2013 while facing a felony driving charge in her courtroom.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 6, 2015

August 6, 2015, 5:46 am
$
0
0
More Than 300 Asbestos Cases Set For Trial In Madison County Aug. 10
From the Madison County Record
More than 300 asbestos cases are set for trial next Monday in a Madison County courtroom that seats about 100 spectators.
The extraordinary number of cases are set to be presided over by the court's only asbestos judge - Stephen Stobbs, an associate judge. Typically, however, cases do not proceed to trial in the nation's busiest asbestos court - they settle.
Among the thousands of asbestos cases filed here in the past few years, just a handful of cases have proceeded to trial. And, the last eight consecutive asbestos trials have resulted in defense verdicts. Most of the cases set for trial on Aug. 10 - 278 of 316 - were filed in 2013 and 2014. Of the remaining cases, 28 were filed in 2012; eight were filed in 2011 and one was filed this year.
In a review of 279 of the docket's cases filed in 2013, 2014 and the one case in 2015, a total of 24 claimants are Illinois residents, or 8.5 percent in all; and, seven of the 279 plaintiffs are Madison County residents, or 2.5 percent of the total.
By comparison, claimants from Ohio (20) and Texas (17) have more trial settings than persons from Madison County, as well as combined more than Illinoisans. In fact, plaintiffs with trial settings come from all across the country. One is from Puerto Rico. The vast majority of cases (271) are brought on behalf of claimants suffering from mesothelioma, a rare but deadly form of cancer believed to be caused by exposure to asbestos.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 7, 2015

August 7, 2015, 6:12 am
$
0
0
The Illinois Pension Disaster: What Went Wrong?
From Crain's Chicago Business
There are many paths to failure. But to understand how Illinois' pension system became the worst in the nation, it's instructive to look at what happened 10 years ago in the final, hectic days of the annual state legislative session in Springfield.
A dense, 78-page bill aimed in part at curbing pension abuses in downstate and suburban school systems landed in lawmakers' laps two days before their scheduled May adjournment. One sponsor called it the first “meaningful” reform in 40 years, a reversal of “decades of neglect and bad decisions.” Another predicted that it could save the state up to $35 billion.
But in addition to true reform, the bill later signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich allowed the state to skip half its pension payments for two years and to stretch out some expenses approved under the previous governor, George Ryan. No one mentioned those could cost $6.8 billion. The math hadn't been done.
In fact, reliable calculations weren't completed for two months. Democrats in the Legislature, eager to pass a budget before their summer began, muzzled debate with a stopwatch, ignored the incomplete calculations and jammed the pension bill through anyway.
In retrospect, Senate Bill 27 was no cure-all. It also was no exception.
For more than a quarter-century, governors and state legislators, Republicans and Democrats alike, made a series of financially toxic moves in the pension systems for state employees and public school teachers. Proposals to fix the perennially underfunded pensions were based on botched calculations—or no calculations at all—and were driven by misguided rationales that weren't fully vetted. Everyone was to blame, yet few accepted responsibility. Even the public-sector unions that stood to lose the most sometimes embraced those choices.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
Search

August 10, 2015

August 10, 2015, 6:29 am
$
0
0
Illinois' New Normal: No Budget, But Money Still Flowing
From the Chicago Tribune
With Illinois in its second month without a budget, the standoff between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly hasn't resulted in a government shutdown.
Roads are being paved. Schools are funded for the upcoming year. The poor are getting health care. Driver's licenses are being renewed. State workers are being paid. And state parks remain open.
It's estimated that 8 out of every 10 state tax dollars has been freed from the limbo of the budget impasse, much of it either by law or a judge's ruling.
As for the money that's tied up in the fight, many companies and social service providers are still doing business with the state, taking it on blind faith that eventually there will be a budget and they'll get reimbursed. Others, like state universities, can afford to move money around for several months as they wait for a resolution.
Call it the new normal, where money continues to flow despite the absence of a budget. So far, that political dynamic is leaving little incentive for one side or the other to try to strike a deal.
"The governor had an opportunity to create pressure, and he went out of his way to avoid crisis," said Chris Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois. "Most chief executives in the past usually set about to make the pain felt, to put the blame on the legislature to force them to come to the table. Not here."
Meanwhile, the state is spending and racking up bills at roughly the same rate as it did last year — $38 billion — while it only expects to take in about $32 billion after much of a 2011 temporary income tax hike expired in January.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
↧

August 11, 2015

August 11, 2015, 6:31 am
$
0
0
Court Documents Shed New Light On Aaron Schock Case
From the Associated Press
Federal court records unsealed Monday indicate that former Rep. Aaron Schock was issued a grand jury subpoena seeking campaign and congressional records the day before he resigned his Illinois congressional seat.
The records released by U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough also reveal that Schock in April filed an emergency motion to quash the subpoena, calling it "oppressive and unreasonable," and accusing the government of misconduct.
The records show that from April 9 through June 8, Schock refused to produce any congressional or campaign documents, and has since asserted various privileges to try to limit prosecutors' access to some of his papers.
Some of the released documents were heavily redacted, and many are still sealed.
Lawyers for the U.S. House filed a friend of the court brief on July 28 in response to a Department of Justice contention that some of the records produced by Schock and his staff do not belong to him. However, the House lawyers said lawmakers also are covered by the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination.
The House brief contends Schock's records are protected. The brief made clear those backing it aren't taking the former congressman's side.
FBI agents searched Schock's office with a warrant on June 4, carting off boxes of material and at least one laptop computer.
The 34-year-old Schock stepped down in March amid mounting scrutiny of his spending, including the "Downton Abbey"-style redecoration of his Capitol Hill office, travel on private aircraft and unreported trips abroad.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 12, 2015

August 12, 2015, 6:33 am
$
0
0
State Budget Fight Affects Paydays For Public Lawyers
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Payments to state’s attorneys and public defenders will continue to be delayed without a budget, the state’s Revenue Department said Tuesday.
A department spokesman said July payments for county prosecutors and public defenders still can’t go forward while state lawmakers remain at loggerheads over a spending plan.
The state is responsible for a significant chunk of state’s attorneys’ and defenders’ salaries in a typical budget year.
The state portion makes up a greater share in primarily rural counties.
But with no plan implemented, those payments are either being made by local governments or delayed indefinitely.
“Obviously we can’t pay them without an appropriation,” said department spokesman Terry Horstman.
The Revenue Department notified county treasurers of the pay situation in a letter on July 30.
“As you probably know, a budget for the state of Illinois is currently pending for the 2016 fiscal year. As a result, payments have been suspended for the state’s attorneys, public defenders and supervisor of assessments salaries going forward until an appropriation for the 2016 fiscal year is established for these salary reimbursements,” the letter states.
A spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita M. Alvarez could not be reached.
Keith C. Grant, president of the Illinois Public Defender Association, also could not be reached.
The state has gone more than two months without a spending plan due to an impasse between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative Democrats led by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 13, 2015

August 13, 2015, 6:45 am
$
0
0
Gov. Rauner Signs Lawmakers' Rejected Pay Increase
From the Associated Press
Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed a law barring Illinois lawmakers from receiving a pay raise this year.
Rauner signed the measure Thursday after the General Assembly voted to reject the increase that would have paid each member of the House and Senate about $1,400 more per year.
The increase was supposed to be automatic because of court decisions and a 2014 law.
But Rauner, a Republican, battered the Legislature for weeks in mid-summer over the 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers who haven't seen an increase in eight years.
He said it would be improper for lawmakers to take a raise when they have not been able to agree with him on a state budget that was supposed to take effect July 1.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 14, 2015

August 14, 2015, 6:46 am
$
0
0
More Than 300 Madison County Asbestos Cases Set For Trial This Week Settle
From the Madison County Record
Each of the 316 asbestos lawsuits set for trial this week in Madison County have settled.
No jurors were selected to hear any of the cases, which were set to be presided over by Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs.
In a review of 279 of the cases set for trial on Aug. 10, a total of 24 claimants were Illinois residents, or 8.5 percent; and, seven plaintiffs were Madison County residents, or 2.5 percent of the total.
By comparison, claimants from Ohio (20) and Texas (17) had more trial settings than persons from Madison County, as well as combined more than Illinoisans in this docket.
The Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch (I-LAW) called the trial docket “eye-opening evidence” supporting the need for state legislators to pass legal reform legislation in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s ‘Turnaround Agenda.’
“This staggering number of asbestos cases set for trial in Madison County, almost all of which are from plaintiffs who have no connection to Madison County, shows that greedy personal injury lawyers are continuing to try to game the system to get rich at our expense,” I-LAW Executive Director Travis Akin stated in the release.
“This obvious abuse of our courts underscores the urgent need for need for (sic) legislation to pass the common sense venue reforms proposed by Governor Rauner as part of his ‘Turnaround Agenda.’ Metro-East legislators should stand up to the wealthy personal injury lawyers and stand with the small businesses and individual citizens who are paying the price for living in the ‘Lawsuit Abuse Capital of America,’” Akin continued.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
↧

August 17, 2015

August 17, 2015, 6:48 am
$
0
0
Without A Budget, Illinois' Spending — And Deficit — Balloon
From the Springfield State Journal-Register
Illinois Republicans and Democrats alike wailed when the Democratic-controlled legislature approved a state budget last year that was more than $1 billion out of balance. Then-gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner called the spending plan "phony," while the party in power acknowledged it was "incomplete" and riddled with gimmicks.
But the state is now on course to dig itself a far greater budget hole through either unwillingness or inability to act on the current fiscal year's budget. One estimate puts the deficit at $5 billion, thanks to court- and statute-mandated spending already underway at levels that both sides say are unsustainable.
Lawmakers say they're not even sure how much money is going out the door. They agree that the situation is leading Illinois — already billions in debt — to rack up more. They acknowledge that balancing the budget gets more difficult with each passing day. Yet, like most everything else at the state Capitol these days, they're split along party lines as to who's to blame and how to fix it.
The effect on residents and businesses is clear: There'll be a dramatic increase in what the state will eventually have to raise in taxes, cut in spending — or both, said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a nonpartisan research organization.
"This is an incremental path down the road of fiscal recklessness and irresponsibility," Msall said.
At the center of the problem is a disagreement between the Republican governor and Democrats over what should be included in the budget.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 18, 2015

August 18, 2015, 6:50 am
$
0
0
Local Enterprise Zones On Hold Over Illinois Budget Impasse
From the Associated Press
The state economic development agency that approves sales tax breaks for construction materials says it cannot certify 49 previously approved enterprise zones because of the ongoing budget impasse in Illinois.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced Sunday that the tax incentives are on hold as first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and majority Democratic lawmakers continue to squabble over the absence of a state spending plan in the fiscal year that began July 1.
Department director Jim Schultz says that it would be a "disservice to Illinois businesses and communities" to issue the tax breaks "while the state continues to bleed jobs due to high costs of doing business."
The program also allows local governments to negotiate additional incentives with companies that in turn promise to create new jobs.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
Search

August 19, 2015

August 19, 2015, 6:52 am
$
0
0
Rauner On Union-Strike Veto: 'Let Me Do My Job'
From the Associated Press
Imploring them to "let me do my job," Gov. Bruce Rauner asked Illinois lawmakers Tuesday not to undo his veto of a measure authorizing an unelected arbitrator to decide a potential labor-negotiation stalemate.
The Republican governor is locked in tense negotiations over a labor contract to replace a pact that expired June 30 with about 36,000 state workers, members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Rauner believes the plan, which would ban a union strike or government lockout in favor of third-party mediation, is linked to his having taken no union campaign money.
"If our ability to negotiate with AFSCME gets stripped away, it's likely going to cost taxpayers in Illinois billions of dollars beyond what I think we could negotiate if we were allowed to do it in good faith and complete the process," Rauner said while visiting reporters in the Capitol. "It's a big deal."
Rauner says AFSCME members have benefited for years from generous salary and benefit boosts from, particularly, Democratic governors currying favor. There has been little progress in months of talks between the two sides. Rauner now promises no lockout and no wage cuts.
Rauner released his missive on the eve of an expected vote by the Democratic-controlled Senate to override the veto. "We're asking them, 'Just let me do my job,'" Rauner said.
The legislation, which appeared in the General Assembly in late May, sought to tamper fears of a lockout and replacement-worker hiring; Rauner had spoken admiringly of former President Ronald Reagan's August 1981 termination of thousands of striking air-traffic controllers. In exchange, AFSCME was willing to give up the right to strike, although there has been no strike in 40 years of Illinois government collective bargaining.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 20, 2015

August 20, 2015, 10:01 am
$
0
0
Prosecutors, Defenders Could See Pay Cut During Impasse
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
About a quarter of Illinois’ 102 counties will stop paying local prosecutors and public defenders within one or two months, a state’s attorneys group has said.
LaSalle County State’s Attorney Brian J. Towne, chairman of the appellate prosecutor office, told a House committee this week that funds for many local public lawyers will dry up in 30 to 60 days if the state budget impasse continues.
And that could lead to slow-downs in court cases and speedy-trial issues in those counties.
“Without the funds from the (state) back to our respective counties, justice will not exist in any of those counties,” Towne told the committee.
State law provides that two-thirds of state’s attorney and defender salaries are to be paid by the state through the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund, a separate pool of money from the taxpayer-supported General Revenue Fund.
Counties pay the remaining third of the salaries. Prosecutors and defenders are still technically county employees. Even in past years where the state budget has stalled, their checks haven’t necessarily been reduced or delayed because local treasuries could foot the bill temporarily and get state reimbursements later.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
↧

August 21, 2015

August 21, 2015, 6:43 am
$
0
0
Illinois Hit With Downgrades As State Goes More Than 50 Days Without Budget
From Bloomberg News
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, agreed last week with lawmakers to designate pumpkin the official state pie. Reaching consensus on a budget is proving to be more difficult, and that's starting to ripple into the bond market.
The Chicago school district's credit rating was cut to junk on Aug. 14 as it waits on state help to close its deficit. Public university bonds may be downgraded, and securities sold by Chicago's convention center slid after lawmakers failed to approve a deposit needed for debt bills. Even Rauner said he wouldn't be surprised if there's another cut to Illinois's bond grade, which is already lower than any other state.
"As long as the budget impasse continues, the likelihood of a further downgrade does exist," said Peter Hayes, who oversees $116 billion, including some Illinois holdings, as head of municipal securities at New York-based BlackRock Inc. The company isn't buying state bonds amid the impasse.
Illinois has gone 50 days without a spending plan since the fiscal year started July 1 and there's no end in sight. Rauner, the state's first Republican governor in 12 years, and the Democrat-led legislature can't agree on how to fix a $6.2 billion deficit that was left after temporary tax increases expired.
Rauner is calling for limits on the power of unions, changes to business regulations and spending cuts before agreeing to new taxes. Democrats want steeper levies on the highest earners, among other revenue-raising measures.
Illinois has had other budgetary jams, such as standoffs in the 1990s between the legislature and Gov. Jim Edgar, R, though none has lasted as long, according to the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based research group.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 24, 2015

August 24, 2015, 8:50 am
$
0
0
Lawmakers Hear Poverty, Voting Rights Concerns During Peoria NAACP Event
From the Peoria Journal Star
Before a listening session with Illinois representatives, Helen King passed out pieces of paper detailing how money planned for an area prison should instead be used to reward low-income families for their children who stay in school.
“If we’ve got money to put towards a prison, we have money to put towards human life,” King said, addressing the politicians.
Joined by elected officials on the local, state and federal levels, a small crowd packed into the Peoria NAACP on Sunday afternoon to share their stories, comments and concerns during a listening session.
“We are a ready and willing partner on the problems that face this region,” said U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos to the crowd.
Bustos, an East Moline Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, took the lead in addressing the crowd.
King, who is part of the local NAACP, had a hand in organizing the local listening session. “We have got to start holding elected officials accountable,” King said.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧

August 25, 2015

August 25, 2015, 8:52 am
$
0
0
Illinois Towns Drowning In Pension Debt From Hundreds Of Funds
From Bloomberg News
The pension-funding crisis undermining the stability of Illinois and Chicago is rippling through hundreds of smaller governments, squeezing budgets as officials prop up teetering police and fire retirement funds.
The eastern Illinois border city of Danville has reduced its firefighter ranks by 27 percent in five years to lower retirement costs. The tiny Chicago suburb of Stone Park sold $2 million in bonds last year to bolster the police pension, which had just six cents for every dollar owed retirees.
"Most communities in this state are in no position to continuously meet the pension requirements," said Tom Weisner, mayor of Aurora, the state's second-largest city, with a population of almost 200,000.
The squeeze comes from about 650 police and fire pension funds and is largely overlooked in the deepening Illinois and Chicago pension crises. The state is saddled with $111 billion in unfunded liabilities. Chicago and its public school system, with a combined shortfall of almost $30 billion, face the prospect of bankruptcy.
Half of local retirement systems are less than 60 percent funded, according to a May report from a commission created by the legislature to monitor Illinois's long-term debt position. Even those in better financial condition share a trait with weaker peers: mounting pressure from state-enacted benefit increases, resulting in higher taxes and service cuts to cover the costs of 11,000 retirees and 22,000 active public-safety employees.
Read more in our daily News Update...
↧
Viewing all 762 articles
Browse latest View live
Search