Actuaries say Illinois needs to put in $17 billion a year to fix the plans, but the 2027 plan calls for far less.
By LyLena Estabine | Illinois Policy Institute
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed budget gives Illinois’ five state retirement systems $5.4 billion less than what actuaries say they need.
House Bill 0131 and Senate Bill 2512, which contain the proposed budget for fiscal 2027, would appropriate about $11.6 billion to contributions for the five systems. These payments are required by a 1995 state law known as the “Edgar Ramp.”
But while that would satisfy the legal requirement, it would not — by a long shot — meet the fiscally responsible requirements determined by the state’s actuaries. They say the state’s pension plans need just over $17.02 billion this year — and annually for the next 20 years — to fully fund the system and begin paying down the state’s pension debt. That’s almost $5.4 billion more than proposed in the fiscal 2027 budget.
For every year the state fails to make a full, actuarially determined contribution, more money will be needed from taxpayers to pay down the debt. In 2023, COGFA determined that $14.9 billion a year for 20 years would be enough to pay down the debt. That increased by more than $2 billion to $17.02 billion in its most recent report.
The state’s pensions shortfall, or the difference between what the state puts in and what actuaries deem sufficient, has grown, too. In 2023, the difference between statutorily required contributions and the actuarially determined amount was $4.1 billion, more than $1 billion less than the $5.4 billion proposed for fiscal 2027.
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