Excerpt:
When it comes to politics and government, Chicago is a force unto itself. Its strengths and weaknesses are, mostly, of its own making.
But the city was recently victimized by the General Assembly, and it’s important for the people of Illinois to know why. What happened speaks to a serious problem — a Legislature seemingly untethered to reality.
…..
Unfortunately, state legislators voted during the recent lame-duck session to increase retirement benefits for 2,200 Chicago firefighters.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as a newspaper headline put it, objected “strenuously” to the Legislature’s action.
She correctly described it as a “massive unfunded mandate to the taxpayers of Chicago at a time when there are no funds to cover this new obligation.”
Publication Date: 22 January 2021
Publication Site: The News-Gazette