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News: Nation

Illinois dragging its feet on huge pension problem

December 30, 2012 | Modified: December 30, 2012 at 11:31 am
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Photo - FOR USE MONDAY DEC. 31, 2012 AND THEREAFTER - FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2012 file photo taken in Springfield, Ill., Illinois Rep. Daniel Biss, D-Skokie, left, looks on as Illinois Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, speaks with reporters at the Illinois State Capitol. Lawmakers will convene again the first week in January in hopes of fixing the nation's worst case of underfunding state employees' pensions, a problem approaching $100 billion and mounting by $17 million per day. On the table are solutions that other states adopted as long as five years ago. "Nothing has changed in 40 years," said Nekritz, a Chicago Democrat and chairman of the House Pensions Committee, who called for an end to "excuses" when rolling out another proposal to solve the problem this month. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
FOR USE MONDAY DEC. 31, 2012 AND THEREAFTER - FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2012 file photo taken in Springfield, Ill., Illinois Rep. Daniel Biss, D-Skokie, left, looks on as Illinois Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, speaks with reporters at the Illinois State Capitol. Lawmakers will convene again the first week in January in hopes of fixing the nation's worst case of underfunding state employees' pensions, a problem approaching $100 billion and mounting by $17 million per day. On the table are solutions that other states adopted as long as five years ago. "Nothing has changed in 40 years," said Nekritz, a Chicago Democrat and chairman of the House Pensions Committee, who called for an end to "excuses" when rolling out another proposal to solve the problem this month. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois is a state with a reputation for political wheeling and dealing. And now it is dragging its feet on a deal to solve its biggest crisis in a generation.

The state's pension funds are the most underfunded in the country, with a shortfall approaching $100 billion.

Lawmakers will convene again next week in hopes of fixing the problem.

On the table are solutions other states adopted as long as five years ago. They include higher retirement ages, asking workers to contribute more and switching to 401(k)-style plans.

Critics blame Illinois' situation on procrastination, budget gimmicks and using state employees' retirement funds as a veritable credit card.

It's a problem decades in the making, through nearly a dozen Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures controlled by both parties.

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