One bright spot, such as it is, is that pensions, and pension funding, is actually getting some attention, at least in the debates. Because of the pension funding "ramp" now in place, Chicago's statutory pension contributions are scheduled to increase by $159 million next year, a further $121 million in 2020, and so forth until in 2023, the annual contribution is $1.1 billion greater than in 2018. Candidates are being directly asked how, specifically, they intend to find this extra money, whether they support pension obligation bonds, and whether they support any reform in pension benefits themselves. They also asked the first group of candidates whether they would be willing to engage in any manner of pension reform. Daley interjected that Chico used pension money to bridge a funding gap, and Chico responded that plans were fully funded at the time so this was acceptable.

Source: Forbes February 05, 2019 17:14 UTC