Lake County Gazette

Republican House candidate Ken Idstein dreads the way lawmakers in Springfield have been so consistent in the way they've handled Illinois’ long-bungled state pension system.

“For decades, Illinois politicians have promised far more and delivered even less,” Idstein told the Lake County Gazette. “This has been a concerted effort on the part of the Illinois Democrats, led by Speaker Michael Madigan, that has led to an unfunded pension problem that outpaces the rate of the state's economic growth by nearly eight times.”

Wirepoints.com, a research and commentary website that focuses on the Illinois economy and state politics, recently found that the state’s pension crisis is the result of overpromising by lawmakers and not underfunding.

Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake)

The site’s recent analysis of Illinois Department of Insurance and Pew Charitable Trusts data found that pension benefits across the state grew faster than in 48 other states from 2003 to 2015 and are now 1,000 percent greater than they were just three decades ago, far outpacing all other economic barometers during that same period.

Illinois’ pension assets have also grown exponentially over the same 30-year timeframe, according to Wirepoints.

“Our pension system is both unsustainable for the pensioner as well as for the taxpayer,” Idstein said. “We ought to reform how the state manages its five state-funded retirement systems to move new employees to self-managed plans and to encourage existing employees to join the new 401(k)-style plans.”

The site also found that the cost of promised pension benefits on Illinois households has increased from $4,300 in 1987 to more than $43,000 in 2016. Researchers argue that if pension benefits had just maintained the same pace as all the state’s neighbors liability could be reduced by as much as $85 billion.

“We must do everything that we can to try to alleviate the enormous burden that is on Illinois taxpayers,” Idstein said. “Pensions are overwhelming our state budget.”

In 2016, pension benefits hit $208 billion, up almost $200 billion since 1987, the earliest year that the Illinois Department of Insurance offers such data. Overall, the state’s pension benefits grew 7.5 percent annually over a 12-year period beginning in 2003, compared to the national average of 5.5 percent, and a 3.6 average among the neighboring states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri.

“The opportunity costs associated with having such a ballooning pension crisis are significant now, and will be even more severe in the future if we don't act on this soon,” Idstein said. “We must take every available action to reduce those lost opportunities to guarantee our ability to do other things with our tax revenue in the future.”

Idstein is running against Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) in the 62nd District, which includes parts of Grayslake, the Round Lake communities, Hainesville, Wauconda and Gurnee.