The Chicago Housing Authority has hoarded millions of dollars in a reserve fund and used federal taxpayer money for non-housing-related services, despite a waiting list of thousands of low-income residents, a new study says.

A proposal by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a Chicago nonprofit advocacy group, suggests that taking 43 years to make the plans fully funded, instead of the normal 30 years, would reduce annual pension payments to a feasible level. Requiring equal annual payments instead of back-loading contributions to later years would make it more fiscally responsible than the state's current plans.

“The only thing they can do that's rational is re-amortizing the debt they owe,” said Ralph Martire, CTBA's executive director. “It works and it's constitutional. The only people who will yell and scream are the actuaries.”

Pension reform, RIP?

In a case with ominous implications for the state's pension reform law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that the state constitution prevents any diminishment of health care benefits for retired state employees.

We expect elected officials to address societal needs with well-designed, effective policy initiatives. Of course, the overtly political milieu in which public policy is created usually frustrates this expectation.