Rep. Dan Caulkins | repcaulkins.com
Rep. Dan Caulkins | repcaulkins.com
State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) likes to think he’s as knowledgeable as anyone in Springfield to talk about the issue of pension reform.
“I served on the Decatur City Council, one of the entities called out by this study,” Caulkins said at a recent press conference on the issue of the state’s largest cities being tagged with an F grade for their handling of the ongoing pension crisis in a new study.
Researchers also found the state’s worst-in-the-nation pension debt soared by 19% over the last year, driving even more people out of the state. Overall, the state’s pension debt swelled to $317 billion as of June 30, 2020, according to credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service – or more than double the state’s official estimate.
“We had to make very difficult decisions while I served on the council,” Caulkins said of his time on the Decatur City Council. “How do we fund the pensions; how do we fund public services? One of the things we need to think about is what are the priorities and how do we help these cities. We’ve already talked about taking their funding sources away. The governor has said he is interested taking more of that away. That’s a terrible decision.”
Caulkins warns the problems don’t end there.
“The other problem we have is unfunded mandates,” he said. “There are a group of people up here that will have no compunction about passing along the cost of doing business to our cities, our communities, our counties. That’s got to stop. We have an obligation to the pensioners. We have an obligation to honor that commitment but we’ve got to find a way to keep these pension plans solvent. You don’t do that by pushing down more mandates.”
Caulkins argues it’s critical for the sake of the state that the change comes now.
“We’ve got to protect the pensions but we’ve also got to understand the taxpayers need to know they’re getting something for their money,” he said. "Pension reform has got to be on the table. Now is the time because these pensions are insolvent and our people are going to suffer greatly for it."
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