IL Govt. Pension Fiasco Sparks Media Coverage

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Chicago – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered his inaugural budget address before the General Assembly yesterday, focusing in part on the government pension debacle afflicting the state. Taxpayers United of America (TUA) has played a large role in publicizing this issue for nearly a decade, and yesterday’s media coverage is helping spread the message like never before.
Although not mentioned by name, Rauner was citing TUA’s research when he stated in his budget address, “As it stands right now, one out of every four dollars taken from taxpayers by the state goes into a system that is giving more than ELEVEN THOUSAND government retirees tax-free, six-figure pensions worth as much as, in one case, $450,000 per year!”
Rauner was referring specifically to TUA’s release April 30, 2014, “Illinois’ Top 200 Government Pensions: The New Millionaire’s Row,” listing the most lavish government pensions in Illinois as of April 1, 2014. TUA’s response to Rauner’s budget address yesterday can be found here.
Luckily, Gov. Rauner’s reference was not ignored, and ABC 7 Chicago followed up with a story yesterday evening, “Some Illinois retirees getting millions from taxpayers,” further investigating the top gold-plated government pensions in the state. A link with a PDF of our research can be found within their ABC 7 investigative report, as well as here.
TUA has forced the Illinois government pension fiasco into the spotlight and for good reason; the current government pension system is unsustainable. TUA’s website has been flooded with new visitors and taxpayers looking to become members, joining TUA in the fight for fiscal sanity in Illinois and reclaiming our economic future.

We Need More Details and Fewer Speeches, Gov. Rauner!

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Chicago – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered his first budget address to the General Assembly today, allowing the first-term Republican an opportunity to outline his plan to address the financial catastrophe looming over the taxpayers of Illinois.
Taxpayers United of America’s (TUA) director of operations, Jared Labell, said that today’s speech was mostly a replay of Rauner’s State of the State speech delivered just two weeks ago. “We were hoping that today’s budget address would give some concrete indication of how Rauner intends to move forward with his goal of reforming the government of Illinois and improving the economic climate of the state, but he was heavy on flowery campaign rhetoric and short on substance.”
“Rauner’s speech continued to echo many of the same points he offered two weeks ago, but unfortunately, without further details of how his approach will make fiscal sense; not to mention gain the approval of the Madigan and Cullerton Democratic stronghold called the General Assembly.” Labell continued, “Yet again, we will have to wait and see what the finalized budget proposal will look like on paper before we celebrate, and even then, we still have a long way to go.”
Although many specifics of the governor’s so-called ‘Turnaround Budget’ remained elusive following the speech, Labell was not entirely pessimistic about the opportunities ahead. “Rauner’s general approach to reforming the government of Illinois is a positive step in the right direction, especially when compared to groups like the Civic Federation, which recently released its state budget analysis calling for six major tax increases totaling more than $23 billion, plus billions in more expenditures.”
“Rauner seems committed to finding a solution to the pension crisis in Illinois, a top priority of TUA for nearly a decade. In his speech, Rauner even referenced some of the figures we have published, including the fact that more than eleven thousand government retirees are collecting tax-free, six-figure pensions.” Labell concluded, “The government pension system is unsustainable. Rauner and the General Assembly must address this fiasco first and foremost if they want to retain any credibility with the taxpayers who are forced to pay for this perpetual government boondoggle.”

It’s What You Didn’t Say, Governor!

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Chicago – Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner delivered his first State of the State address to the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday, beginning his inaugural term as governor by outlining his own approach to a number of critical issues plaguing taxpayers.
Taxpayers United of America’s (TUA) director of operations, Jared Labell, said that today’s speech was a mixed bag of positive steps and setbacks for taxpayers. “We’re glad to hear Gov. Rauner supports government reforms that will reduce the size and cost of government by consolidating offices, leveraging purchasing power and returning some control to local government while reducing the more than 7,000 government taxing authorities.”
Labell was also optimistic about Gov. Rauner’s forthright discussion of the government unions’ power and conflict of interest with the taxpayers. “It’s about time a state’s chief executive connected the dots between the union thugs, campaign contributions, and the ever expanding government employee pensions, an issue on which TUA has been at the forefront for nearly a decade.”
“These lavish, gold-plated government pensions are the most critical financial challenge for Illinois. The taxpayers who have their hard-earned paychecks looted to pay for billions in government largesse are really hurting, being forced to work longer and harder, sacrificing their own retirement savings to fund the government retiree lifestyle.”
“My optimism over the implications of Gov. Rauner’s fiscal policy on taxpayers vanished with his glaring omission of how he would pay for the big spending increases in the education and prison systems. Gov. Rauner has made it known throughout his campaign that he supports broadening the Illinois state sales tax to include numerous services, including advertising, storage, and printing. He wants to, and barely mentioned, ‘broadening the tax base’, but has not mentioned lowering the sales tax rate itself,” said Labell. “I guess we will have to wait for his budget speech to see if the governor’s proposal is really just a massive tax increase for average taxpayers, who would be hardest hit by such an indiscriminate tax hike.”
“Raising taxes in any way before addressing the real budget problem, the unsustainable government pension system, is counterproductive and irresponsible. There are steps that can be taken immediately, such as placing all new government hires in retirement savings accounts and increasing employee and retiree contributions to healthcare premiums,” concluded Labell.