Metro East Sun

Dwight Kay has long argued politicians in Springfield need only to look in the mirror to see who is responsible for the state’s growing pension crisis.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind that our lawmakers have over-promised and underperformed when it comes to state pensions,” Kay, running against incumbent Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) in Illinois’ 112th District, told the Metro East Sun. “The problem is there’s not a lot of common sense in Springfield, so they’ve never projected what pensions would cost when you account for all the variables there could be. If you don’t do the math, you don’t know how big the problem is until someone else tells you.”

Wirepoints.com, a research and commentary website that focuses on the Illinois economy and state politics, recently analyzed state pension data from the Illinois Department of Insurance and other sources going back three decades. The site found that pension benefits have grown by 1,000 percent over that time, outpacing every other economic barometer in the state.

Representative Katie Stuart (D) 112th District | http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=2500

Overall, Illinois’ pension benefits were the third fastest growing in the country over a 12-year period commencing in 2003. By 2016, total pension benefits eclipsed $208 billion, leaving the average Illinois household on the hook for at least $43,000 in unpaid pension liability.

Wirepoints’ writers Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner also found that if state pension benefits had simply grown at the same rate as neighboring states since 2003 the state’s unfunded pension liability would be approximately $85 billion lower than its current rate.

“When Democrats recently passed the 32 percent income tax hike, they said they were going to pay down pensions, but now everyone has their hands out for that money and the rest has already been earmarked for other things,” Kay said. “My thought on that is if you’re going to increases taxes and drive people out of state with that kind of policy you at least should do what you said you were going to do with money.”

Kay has always been skeptical when lawmakers say the money could be used to do things like lower property taxes, he said.

“The only time you see property taxes go down is when you have some sort of legislative action mandating it,” Kay said.

Talking with voters during his campaign has left Kay with the impression people have finally had enough.

“We’re rapidly approaching a point where a quarter of our budget is going toward paying pensions,” he said. “People tell [me] you can’t put any faith in Springfield, that this state has almost become unaffordable to live in and no one is doing anything to make things better.”

Illinois’ 112th District includes Glen Carbon and parts of Maryville, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Granite City, Fairview Heights and O’Fallon.