Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up. The video (below) is a real video from Governor Quinn of Illinois:
Governor Quinn gives an excellent history of pensions but I notice there’s something missing from the video: solutions. Perhaps it’s because Illinois legislators and Governor Quinn promised that the 66% tax increase of 2011 would solve the problem. It didn’t. Illinois had $8 billion of unpaid bills when the tax increase was passed; there are $8 billion of unpaid bills today. Pensions ate up the tax increase.
There’s an editorial in the Chicago Tribune that notes that some Illinois legislators want to borrow money to pay for pensions. That’s a great solution: Let’s eliminate one debt problem by substituting another debt problem!
There is only one solution: Fundamental reform of the pension system. It’s going to be politically ugly: Democrats’ major interest group, public employee unions, will not like the results (pensions will be cut; that’s the only way out of the problem). Governor Quinn likens pensions to promises, and that they can’t be changed. Here’s a helpful hint to Illinois politicians: The taxpayers and companies that are resident in your state can leave to a far more friendly tax location. Sure, your income taxes aren’t that high (yet), but you’re sure heading in the wrong direction. If I were an executive with an Illinois-based business, I would be looking at other states. As I noted yesterday, moving a business is disruptive. Unfortunately, if you’re on a ship that’s struck an iceberg it’s time to head to the lifeboats. Illinois struck an iceberg called pensions. There’s still time to fix the hole but it’s now a more than $90 billion problem.
Chicago is a great city, and Illinois was a great place for my childhood. However, there are fifty states in the United States and Illinois appears to be following California into a cycle that will cause businesses that can leave to leave and for taxpayers to be caught in a cycle of ever-increasing taxes.