birdwatcher

We now know that the Illinois constitution requires that if the state or local government hires a worker at age 18 whatever pension commitments are in place at that time must be preserved for the next 30 years or so (until that worker’s retirement) and then paid until the worker’s death (another 50 years? or 100 if medical technology leaps forward?). Thus Illinois taxpayers are locked in for at least 80 years.

I’m wondering, though, if this lock-in period could be cut to 50 years. What requires an insolvent state such as Illinois to retain any or all of its public employees? Could the governments simply fire all of the workers and then invite people to reapply for jobs with a new 401k-style pension system?

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2015/05/08/could-illinois-state-and-local-governments-fire-all-of-their-workers/