Chicago won some relief from its pension burden as Illinois’s legislature cut required payments into police and fire retirement systems, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Yet lawmakers failed to agree on a budget, deepening a crisis that threatens the state and city alike. The Senate voted 38 to 20 Sunday for a bill that would reduce Chicago’s payments over the next five years in a move meant to relieve immediate pressure, though it doesn’t address the city’s risk of insolvency from $20 billion in unfunded liabilities. Meanwhile, budget talks between the Democratic-controlled legislature and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner broke down hours before the session’s scheduled end, meaning any compromise to close a $6.2 billion deficit for the year starting July 1 now will require a three-fifths vote rather than a simple majority. Rauner, a former private-equity executive, has criticized Democrats’ insistence on tax increases to deal with the deficit. He said he won’t back them unless Democrats approve spending cuts and ease business regulations.
