Illinois Legislative Leaders Strike Tentative Pension Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Illinois legislative leaders reached a tentative agreement on fixing the worst-funded U.S. public pension system and will submit it to lawmakers for a vote Dec. 3, according to a spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton.

“The Senate president will be debriefing members of his caucus in the coming days in hopes of garnering support,” Ronald Holmes said in an e-mail.

Illinois’s five pension systems had 43 percent of assets needed to cover obligations in fiscal 2011, the lowest ratio among states, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The underfunded pensions have led to repeated credit downgrades for the lowest-rated U.S. state. Legislators have failed to enact a fix at least five times in the past 15 months.

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