Illinois pensions: credit rating sinks after deadlock
The major ratings agency Fitch downgraded Illinois? credit rating Monday following lawmaker?s stagnancy over pension reform. Two competing reform approaches among state Democratic leaders have resulted in impasse. While governor Pat Quinn favors a cost-cutting plan that would shrink benefits for retirees and state workers, Senate leaders backed by organized labor are advocating for a ?this or that plan? that would let workers and retirees choose between keeping their current pensions while foregoing health coverage, or keeping health coverage while receiving reduced pension benefits. Monday?s downgrade follows similar disappointing ratings from Standard & Poor?s and Moody?s Investors Service, which have labeled Illinois as having the worst credit in the nation.
See "Illinois pensions: credit rating sinks after deadlock", Monique Garcia and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, June 3, 2013