Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are blaming one another regarding a recently signed police and fire pension bill that will cost Chicago taxpayers $11 billion over the next 30 years.
The bill, which Pritzker signed in August, will boost pension payouts for Chicago police officers and firefighters hired after 2011.
The $11 billion bill, which has no funding mechanism, could deplete the police and fire pension funds to the point of insolvency, warned watchdog groups like the Better Government Association and the Civic Federation, which have slammed the projected costs of the legislation.
The mayor and the governor are now engaged in a feud and are accusing each other of mishandling the legislation after its total costs were made public.
FOX 32 Chicago obtained an internal memo showing that the mayor's Chief Financial Officer, Jill Jaworski, had warned Pritzker's senior aide, Andy Manar, about the financial impact on the city from the passage of the legislation. The memo was obtained after the governor denied that Johnson had reached out to him to veto or change the bill.
The new pension bill will take $60 million more out of Chicago's already stretched budget in 2027 alone. Meanwhile, municipal deficits were already expected to hit over $1 billion next year, according to the city's own projections.
Johnson's office told FOX 32 that the memo "corroborates what we said all along: that both the legislators and the governor's office were aware of our concerns. We raised these concerns both publicly while testifying on the potential impact of this bill and privately."
The mayor has been facing further criticism from local police unions, after calling law enforcement a "sickness" that has not made Chicago safer, as the city's murder rate hit record highs.
Johnson was referring to President Trump’s proposal to send the National Guard to Chicago to suppress violent crime. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser called the troop deployments a success in her city after initially heaping scorn on the plan.
Recommended: Expert Panel Discusses the Alleged Crimes of John Brennan
Pritzker claimed that Johnson never contacted him or any legislators to oppose the bill or request changes.
"The mayor never once called me or, as far as I know, any legislators to oppose that bill or to ask for any changes in that bill," Pritzker said.
"This bill was passed with a supermajority in the legislature, and we are unaware of this input ever being given to legislative leaders. The governor's office always appreciates this kind of input earlier in the legislative process," added the governor.
Related: Stephen Miller Accuses D.C. Police of Doctoring Crime Stats as Whistleblower Comes Forth
The bill's sponsor, Democratic State Sen. Robert Martwick, claimed that the $11 billion was desperately needed to align Chicago's Tier 2 pension rules with state counterparts to comply with federal "safe harbor" requirements.
Safe harbor requirements are an IRS rule that requires government retirement benefits to be greater than or equal to Social Security.
Martwick admitted the negative financial impact of the bill but argued that inaction would have cost local and state governments more, as the current Tier 2 benefits fell below federal standards.
"Those numbers exist whether or not we pass the legislation. Tier 2 is insufficient, according to the federal government, and it needs to be fixed," Martwick said.
Help us continue to report on the left's blatant corruption and attacks on President Trump. Join VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.