Public pension systems pose a complex challenge. Incremental changes in benefits or assumptions today can create exponential economic impacts decades into the future. The issue is compounded when considering the stalemate that exists among stakeholders. We’ve spent the past several months compiling research in an effort to discern the underlying cause of the State of Illinois’ public pension systems poor condition.
Academic papers, while thorough, typically result in lengthy, technical pieces that are a cumbersome read for most. News articles tend to only scratch the surface, limited by word count and worn thesauruses. Our approach was to present our findings in a five part series with each part examining a different important topic. We assembled a complete dataset of the State’s public pension information dating back to 1985 and cast our research net far and wide. Our final product is a compendium that provides a comprehensive and balanced understanding of Illinois’ pension issues.
Bernardi Illinois Public Pension White Paper