Reforming Public Pensions Subject to Political and Legal Constraints: The Illinois Experience

Jeffrey Brown

National Tax Journal, 2014, vol. 67, issue 4, 941-964

Abstract: On December 5, 2013, the Governor of Illinois signed into a law a bill that substantially reduced pensions for public sector workers in Illinois. Designed to partially address the severe under-funding problem created from many decades of inadequate contributions to the state’s large pension funds, the new law was negotiated in a highly constrained environment. Strong constitutional benefit protections and political constraints both imposed severe limits on the set of options available to the legislature. This paper discusses these constraints and how they influenced the shape of the final bill. It also analyzes the financial and legal implications of the reform for the state, public universities, and participants. Key Words: public pension reform, Illinois, retirement plans JEL Codes: H55, H72, J32

Date: 2014
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