More Good News from Illinois

Yet another example of why it was so wise to hire Illinois politicians to run the country:

Moody’s Investors Service reported that Illinois’ true unfunded pension liability in fiscal year 2011 was nearly 65% higher than the state’s official estimate.

In its report titled “Adjusted Pension Liability Medians for U.S. States,” Moody’s calculated the unfunded liabilities for Illinois’ three largest state-run pension plans at $133 billion, compared to the state’s official calculation of $81.3 billion.

Illinois’ pension funds use overly optimistic assumptions in calculating their unfunded liability, including an expected 8% yearly average investment return. The new Moody’s methodology uses more realistic market rates based on high-quality corporate bonds. The rate Moody’s used for fiscal year 2011 was 5.67%, resulting in a $52 billion increase in the state’s unfunded liability.

Moody’s has yet to publish their report on fiscal year 2012 liabilities. However, the market rates they’ll use to calculate the unfunded liability have already been determined. As of June 30, 2012, that rate was equal to 4.13%. That means Illinois’ official $97 billion underfunding is set to approach $200 billion under the new Moody’s methodology.

Somehow, I don't think Sammy is going to be able to bail Illinois out, either.