Home > Harris Policy Innovation Challenge Main

Harris Policy Innovation Challenge

2023-2024: The Chicago Pension Crisis

Calabrese, Thad and Marlowe, Justin (2017). “Postemployment Benefits: Pensions and Retiree Health Care.” In Public Human Resource Management: Problems and Prospects, ed. Jerrell Coggburn and Rick Kearney (Washington, DC: Sage).
Listokin-Smith, Siona (2012). “Public Employee Pensions and Investments.” In Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government Finance, ed. Robert Ebel and John E. Petersen (New York: Oxford University Press).
Urban Institute (2017). Backgrounder: State and Local Government Pensions. Blog Post.
Novy-Marx, Robert and Rauh, Joshua (2011). “Public Pension Promises: How Big are They and What are They Worth?” Journal of Finance 66(4): 1211-1241.
Mattoon, Richard H. (2007). “Issues Facing State and Local Government Pensions.” Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Perspectives.
Giesecke, Oliver and Rauh, Joshua (2023). “Trends in State and Local Pension Funds.” Annual Review of Financial Economics 15:221-238.
Center for Municipal Finance, University of Chicago (2023). “Policing Public Pensions, with Natalie Cohen.” Public Money Pod podcast.
Center for Municipal Finance, University of Chicago (2022). “The Big Picture on State and Local Pensions, with Keith Brainard.” Public Money Pod podcast.

Chicago’s Four Pension Funds:

City of Chicago’s FY2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report – includes details on the City’s pension liabilities and future payments.
Civic Federation (2023). “How the Chicago Pension Funds Fared in 2022.” Blog Post, October 6, 2023.
Kass, Amanda (2022). “What is Mayor Lightfoot’s ‘Advance Pension Payment Proposal’?” Blog Post.
Civic Federation’s Research Library – Dozens of reports on pensions and pension funding; be sure to set the filters to focus on pensions and the City of Chicago

David Rubenstein – Bloomberg conversation on state/local pensions and alternative assets
City of Chicago, City Council Office of Financial Analysis (2020). “Pension Obligation Bonds.” Analysis prepared at the request of Hon. Ald. Gilbert Villegas. February 7, 2020.
Tabor, Joe (2022). “Fixing Illinois Pension Crisis by Amending Nation’s Most-Restrictive Pension Law is Legal, Effective.” Illinois Policy Institute.
Garcia, Evan (2018). “A Chicago Pension Fix? Using Revenue from Public Assets.” WTTW, October 15, 2018.
Brainard, Keith (2011). “Hybrid Plan Design.” Presentation to the National Association of State Legislatures, December 28, 2011 (via YouTube).
Spiotto, James (2014). “The Unfunded Pension Obligation Crisis: Is Chapter 9 Bankruptcy the Ultimate Remedy? Are there Better Resolution Mechanisms?” Working Paper, Civic Federation and the Federal Reserve Board of Chicago.
Cadwalder, LLC (2015). “Illinois Court Strikes Down Chicago Pension Reforms, Deepening City's Financial Crisis.”

Boston College Center for Retirement Research - Public Pension Plans Database – Data on assets, liabilities, membership and other characteristics for the largest 229 state/local pension plans in the US
Government Finance Database at Willamette University. Archived Census data on state/local pensions (for download).

NOVEMBER 14, 2023 | 12:30 — 1:50 PM

With Julie A. Roin, Seymour Logan Professor of Law at The University of Chicago

NOVEMBER 28, 2023 | 12:30 — 1:50 PM

With Jennie Huang Bennett, former chief financial officer for the city of Chicago.