The head of Illinois’ largest pension plan strongly suggested that cuts in cost-of-living benefits are inevitable for more than 360,000 teachers and retirees outside of Chicago.
In an interview with Crain’s editors and reporters, Richard Ingram, executive director of the underfunded Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, said state politicians will have few other options if they want to make meaningful progress on closing the gap between promised pension benefits and the available funding.
Well Duh!
What’s missing from this article is any analysis as to how much longer the pensions can survive should the state cut or reduce the COLA. Mark my words — cutting the COLA is NOT a FIX. It is a band-aid at best.