Imagine a company contributing the equivalent of 30 to 40 percent of its workers’ salaries each year to worker-retirement costs alone. No business could sustain that level of costs and compete, let alone survive.
In fact, the market is littered with companies bankrupted by the ballooning costs of traditional pension plans.
But that’s precisely what the Illinois government is trying to get away with. Illinois’ five state-run pension plans are so deep in the hole that the state – the employer – is now contributing the equivalent of 35 to 127 percent of its government-worker salaries just to keep its pension systems afloat. It’s simply unsustainable.
On average, the government contributes to its pension plans the equivalent of 38 percent of each worker’s salary in order to meet the state’s pension obligations. Those contributions cover not only the benefits workers accrue today, but also the shortfall created by the inherent flaws of Illinois’ politician-run pension system.
For example, to keep both the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, and the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, afloat, the state contributes the equivalent of 35 percent of an employee’s salary each year.



















