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Robert Butler - Pension Crisis in Illinois

Robert Butler, the long serving Mayor of Marion, Illinois since 1963, and a participant in the 1970 Illinois State Constitutional Convention, discusses the state's severe pension shortfall from that unique perspective. Mayor Butler discusses the home rule language in the constitution and the document's pension clause. The home rule inclusion gave municipalities greater authority over operations without legislative oversight. He covers the problems faced by local governments due to state mandates and legislative requirements that lead to local financial problems. Butler also discusses the challenges communities now face with the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund as well as fire and police retirement plans.