1989 pension flashback: "Someday, you know, we're going to have to pay the price." Also: Rememberin​g Roger Ebert

BALCONY CLOSED Please pardon this brief detour from the normal Reboot Illinois agenda. When you're a kid from downstate Illinois and a product of the journalism school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as I - Reboot Editor Matt Dietrich - am, Roger Ebert occupied a special place in your Hall of Heroes. He was more than a movie critic. He put film criticism into a broader social context. On his blog in recent years, he wrote brilliantly on topics far afield from movies. He stayed true to his hometown of Urbana, hosting his annual film festival at the historic Virginia Theater there. Some of his best writing came as he suffered stoically through a series of terribly debilitating illnesses -- not that you'd ever know he was suffering. He lost the ability to talk and to eat, but never the ability to produce insightful, challenging, entertaining writing. He'll be missed. Scott Stantis, cartoonist at Ebert's rival newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, hits it on the head in today's cartoon.

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"SOMEDAY WE'LL PAY" An audience member last night at our Reboot Illinois meet-and-greet session in Batavia had a good question: When did Illinois start paying annually compounded increases to retired public employees? The switch from using simple interest to compound interest came in 1989, and it's the biggest cause of the ever-skyward trajectory of our pension debt. My blog today explains the history of that (at the time) seemingly minor change and gives a link to a great Chicago Tribune story every Illinois taxpayer should bookmark and study. Check it out here. It's guaranteed to leave you shaking your head.

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BRING IT ON! So says freshman State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, about a comprehensive pension reform bill in a Reboot Illinois op-ed today. He's eager to get back to Springfield next week to cast his vote. He explains why here.

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DAILY TIP-OFF The state legalized video gambling in 2009 to pay for a mammoth capital construction plan, but the money has only recently started to flow in. The Daily Herald of Arlington Heights reports today that income from legal video poker machines has grown rapidly, from a mere $22,000 in September to $2.4 million in January and $3.4 million in February.

The General Assembly returns to Springfield next week after a two-week break, and pension reform is the big topic. Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller uses his weekly syndicated column to explain House Speaker Michael Madigan's apparent strategy in his pre-break passage of some significant pension reform measures. Whether they get rolled into a single bill, passed by the Senate and upheld in the inevitable court challenge is anyone's guess, writes Miller.

And Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass tries to pin down possible GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner on gay marriage but doesn't have much luck. Kass quotes Rauner: "'If, for example, the Legislature passes gay marriage, I'm not going to fight to reverse it,' he said. 'If they don't pass it, I'm not going to advocate for it. At the right time, the voters will make their views known.'" Kass concludes, "Oddly enough, (Bill) Daley and Rauner may be the only two establishment candidates who know enough about how business does business to actually govern Illinois."

Find links to these and other Illinois reform news stories in the Daily Tip-Off section of our website.

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WE'RE HIRING! We are looking for a director of outreach to work with our partners both on social media platforms and in the communities. See the job description here.  Know anyone who would be a great fit? Let them know about us! 

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