Across all five state retirement systems, typical career workers pay for about 5% of the cost of their pension benefits. They receive an average of $1.7 million to $3.6 million.

There’s immense pressure on Illinois legislators to pass a pension bill. With the state pension system nearing insolvency and credit agencies warning of further downgrades, the perceived wisdom is that any pension fix, no matter how small, is a “step forward” that must be passed. But when it comes to pension reform in Illinois, that...

Illinois government workers are able to retire before the age of 60 while collecting most of their final average salary.