Chicago’s Morning Answer host Mike Koolidge, filling in for Dan Proft, spoke with Mark Glennon of Wirepoints about Illinois’s fiscal standing, running through a list of national rankings he said the state holds, including the highest combined state and local tax burden, the lowest state pension funding percentage, and the highest per capita government pension debt. Glennon said Chicago’s pension crisis sits at the center of the state’s broader fiscal problems, and noted that the issue is finally drawing more national attention, citing coverage in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times alongside public comments from mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza.
Glennon said newly released city financial statements show Chicago’s pension funding has actually worsened despite a funding formula passed several years ago that officials promised would at least stabilize the system. He described the pattern as one of deferral rather than resolution, borrowing a phrase he uses often to describe the state’s approach to its fiscal problems: deny, delay, extend, and pretend. Citing recent Wall Street Journal reporting, Glennon said pension obligations now consume roughly eighty percent of the property taxes collected in Chicago, meaning the majority of what residents pay does not go toward basic services like snow removal, pothole repair, or park maintenance.
Glennon also pointed to a decision by state lawmakers in Springfield to increase benefits for two of Chicago’s pension funds, a move reflected in the city’s latest financial statements that added roughly eight billion dollars in long-term pension liability, with a present value of one point seven billion dollars. He noted that Illinois’s pension protections are enshrined in the state constitution, meaning any substantive reform would require a constitutional convention, a process he said faces a high bar given the signature-gathering and voter approval required to initiate one.
The conversation turned to public safety, with Koolidge raising a City Journal piece on so-called teen takeovers occurring across Chicago. Glennon said the piece, which Wirepoints also featured, attributes the trend primarily to inconsistent enforcement and a broader culture of tolerance toward low-level crime that emerged following the death of George Floyd, leaving police less able to intervene than in years past. He said officers quoted in the piece described a shift away from more assertive crowd-control tactics due to fear of litigation, and agreed that a lack of parental accountability compounds the enforcement gap.
Asked about the upcoming Chicago mayoral race, Glennon said he could not speak to whether incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to seek reelection, but noted that Mendoza appears to be an early frontrunner given her standing as the state’s top vote-getter in her most recent statewide race, while acknowledging she underperformed in Chicago itself during a previous mayoral bid. He said Illinois’s runoff election system means Johnson cannot be ruled out entirely, since a split field of challengers could still allow him to advance. Glennon and Koolidge also discussed the recent departure of Chicago’s police superintendent and the uncertainty surrounding who the next mayor might appoint to lead the department.
Glennon closed by reflecting on Chicago’s international reputation, describing conversations he had while traveling in Poland and Ukraine earlier this year in which local residents raised concerns about crime and governance in the city, which he attributed partly to Chicago’s sizable Ukrainian community relaying information back home. He argued that the reputational damage tied to the city’s governance problems carries a real, if difficult to quantify, economic cost for a city seeking to position itself as a global business hub.