Report: Illinois’ Pension Debt Exploded In 2020

Illinois’ debt picture got a lot worse in 2020. Moody’s Investors Service yesterday said the total price tag for Illinois unfunded pension promises is now over 300 billion-dollars. That cost was 261 billion in 2019, as of the end of 2020 the unfunded promises reached 317 billion. Moody’s blames low interest rates for the spike in debt. The other driving factor is that Illinois’ Teachers’ Retirement System saw a return on investments of just a half-percent in 2020, as opposed to the 20 percent TRS was expecting.