The Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall Discusses Illinois’ Dire
Finances, Reform  Interview conducted and condensed by Jeff
Bailey  Laurence Msall  I remember talking to you nearly a
decade ago, and at the time, Illinois and its municipalities
were dead last among the 50 states in funding public worker
pension obligations. The hole was $50 billion. We’re still dead
last, and the hole has grown to more than $100 billion. Is this
our worst fiscal problem? If not the biggest problem, it is
having the biggest impact on Illinois’s inability to stabilize
its finances. Illinois has the worst-rated credit of any state
except California. We have the expectation at the state level of
government of being able to continue to spend regardless of the
revenue.  Delusional, in other words. If we’d tackled pensions a
decade ago—actually funding the damned things and also requiring
workers to chip in more, work a bit longer, collect a little
less—could we be fully funded by now? We probably would be on
the road to full funding.