On Jan. 7 the state sold $3.5 billion of "pension obligation notes…These five-year debt securities carry an interest rate of 3.84 percent, tax free to bondholders….money raised will go to shore up the Teachers Retirement System, which is scheduled to receive $2.08 billion of the proceeds, and the Illinois State Universities Retirement System, which will get $702.5 million from the bond offering. The Illinois State Board of Investment gets nearly $813 million for funds, including the Illinois State Employees' Retirement System, and the Judges Retirement System, and -- big surprise -- the Illinois General Assembly Retirement System.
Effectively, the state used the pension systems as a credit card to fund ongoing service operations."
If you would like to see more facts and figures, check out the Web site www.IllinoisIsBroke.com, created by the nonpartisan Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago
Click on the following for more details: Emperor has no clothes: Pensions are short cash :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Terry Savage
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