Pensions

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GOMB Report Projects Pressure on Illinois’ Budget Amid Federal Policy Changes

By Lily Padula Each fall, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) issues its…

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Local Pension Dashboard

The Civic Federation’s Local Pension Dashboard is intended for use as a resource and educational tool to increase the accessibility of local pension fund data. The dashboard reports metrics for the ten major local pension funds within the…

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Civic leaders: Gov. JB Pritzker should veto bitter pension sweetener for Chicago

Published originally in Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.In the waning hours of the state legislative session, Springfield…

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How Chicago Public Schools' Pensions Work: An Explainer

By Daniel Vesecky The Chicago Public Schools District (CPS, or the ‘District’) has over 45,000 employees, all of whom are guaranteed a pension after retirement if they…

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Pension change boon to Chicago police officers, firefighters, but additional hit to taxpayers

by A.D. Quig, Olivia Olander, and Jeremy…

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A Joint Appeal for Transparency and Prudence on Pension Reform

Dear Governor Pritzker, President Harmon, Speaker Welch, Leader Curran, and Leader McCombie:As we enter the final days of session, our collection of civic organizations is concerned about a final push for pension legislation that could…

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How Illinois' Spending Compares to Other States: The Tension Between Pensions vs. Public Services

By Lily PadulaA comparative analysis of state expenditures finds that Illinois allocates a larger portion of its operational expenditures to pension obligations than most peer states. Illinois’ annual expenditures on state-level public…

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Commentary

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Financial Landscape Analysis of the Chicago Public School District: FY2025

January 2026 update: This landscape report remains a largely accurate picture of the challenges facing the Chicago Public School District. However, for the most updated data and numbers, please see…

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Cook County Pension Fund FY2023 Update

In this short report, the Civic Federation analyzes indicators of the fiscal health of the Cook County Pension Fund based on the most recent FY2023 actuarial…