Pritzker’s untruth: Illinois’ budget is billions out of balance
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois’ budget is balanced "for the first time in decades." That’s the claim he made upon signing Illinois’ $40 billion budget for 2020.
Pritzker’s claim is simply not true. According to the state’s own actuarial calculations, his budget is billions in the red.
A big reason for the unbalanced budget comes from how politicians account for the state’s retirement debts versus how actuaries do. There’s often a gap of several billion dollars between the two. Today, politicians say the state should contribute $9 billion to the state's pension funds. They set the law and are happy to keep payments low now in exchange for far higher payments in the future.
