CITY JOURNAL
Chicago Is on the Verge of Fiscal Collapse
Austin Berg
August 25, 2025

Chicago’s finances were already on life support. Now, with a single piece of legislation, the state of Illinois has pushed the city closer to fiscal collapse—and put every American taxpayer at risk of footing the bill. On August 1, Governor J. B. Pritzker signed a bill that ranks among the most financially reckless in Illinois history. It includes pension “sweeteners” for Chicago police and fire employees hired after 2011. Experts estimate that it creates $11 billion in new liabilities and drops the “funded ratio” of Chicago police and fire pensions to just 18 percent, meaning that they have just 18 cents on hand for every dollar owed. (Actuaries consider funded ratios below 40 percent as being at the point of no return.) READ MORE