Can a State Constitutional Convention Save the Illinois Pension System?
One of the chief arguments against a constitutional convention is that “they” will take away the pensions. In fact, there are some proponents (chiefly business groups) that advocate scrapping the pension system because it is a large part of the state’s debt. To be fair, in about 10 years, the state’s pension obligations threaten the solvency of the state without reducing pensions, raising taxes or both. It is a problem that needs to be solved, and solved soon. The pension problem is chiefly a creation of the current Illinois constitution. The constitution regards pensions as an “enforceable contractual relationship” which cannot be diminished. Come hard times the pension checks must still go out. However, the constitution does not require the funding of the pension system. This was a very intentional choice by the convention delegates in 1970 who wrote the text. It made sense to the delegates to give the General Assembly discretion in how they funded the pension system. The General Ass
