Illinois has a public service workers shortage. This includes thousands of unfilled teaching positions at local school districts. Labor shortages have been linked to inadequate pay and benefits as well as other issues like burnout. One proposed solution has been to reform the two-tiered retirement system for state and local government workers—half of whom are […]
The near ubiquitous claim that Illinois is facing a “pension crisis” has rarely been challenged. The failure to examine this customary framing of the fiscal condition of Illinois’ five state pension systems limits how policymakers conceptualize their funding strategy. This white paper, jointly authored by researchers from the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the […]