One of every four retired workers from the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools is getting a pension of more than $60,000 a year. Are these workers to blame for the pension crisis that sparked historic downgrades last week in Chicago's and CPS' bond ratings - ratings that might require City Hall to pay $2.2 billion to financial institutions much earlier than planned? Not by a long shot. The downgrade from Moody's means the reworked deals will come at a steeper price than if the city's bond rating had remained higher, said Brian Battle, director of trading for Performance Trust Capital Partners, a Chicago firm that analyzes bonds for investors.
NEWS & COMMENTARY
THE WATCHDOGS: Generous pension benefits only one part of state, city financial crisis
May 17, 2015
