WBGZ Radio 2/16/2021 |
By Greg Bishop - Illinois Radio Network
Illinois taxpayers pay more than $2.1 million a month to retired state legislators or their surviving spouses from a fund that’s only 16% funded. The individual monthly payouts are as high as $18,000 per month. Some pensioners aren’t actually retired but still getting paid. There are 425 people drawing off the General Assembly Retirement System, ranging from $122 a month to $18,000.
At 16% funded, state Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, said GARS is the worst of the state’s five public sector pension funds. “You got there by skipping payments and being unrealistic and that’s a microcosm of what’s happened with all the funds,” Batinick said. All five of the state’s pensions funds combined have an unfunded liability of more than $140 billion. Being an Illinois state lawmaker is considered a part time job and Batinick said members of GARS getting that much per month in retirement is out of line. “So, p