As I noted the other day, recent research shows that public sector unions have both increased the size of states' pension liabilities and the extent of underfunding. (Caveat: these are complex matters and the unions are not the sole cause of these problems but are statistically significant ones).
A new report from the State Budget Crisis Task force looks at Illinois and finds much of the same--although they don't say it explicitly. Unfunded pension liabilities in the the land of Lincoln now top $85 billion and Medicaid liabilities have doubled in 10 years. These drivers of state costs are far outpacing tax revenue, despite recent tax increases. The University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs Fiscal Futures predicts that that "if the projected deficits were paid for by borrowing, debt service costs would grow to consume all sales tax and income tax collections in just five years." The Wall Street Journal makes the right connections between the unions, state Democrats, and the inability to control the big drivers of spending.
A new report from the State Budget Crisis Task force looks at Illinois and finds much of the same--although they don't say it explicitly. Unfunded pension liabilities in the the land of Lincoln now top $85 billion and Medicaid liabilities have doubled in 10 years. These drivers of state costs are far outpacing tax revenue, despite recent tax increases. The University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs Fiscal Futures predicts that that "if the projected deficits were paid for by borrowing, debt service costs would grow to consume all sales tax and income tax collections in just five years." The Wall Street Journal makes the right connections between the unions, state Democrats, and the inability to control the big drivers of spending.
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