To the Editor:

Attended Tuesday’s Illinois Policy Institute forum on the government pension crisis: quite an eye-opener.

The Teacher Retirement System is billions in the hole; Springfield hasn’t provided the necessary funding. And, despite raising the income tax rate last year, the state doesn’t have the money to pay the employers’ portion of the teachers’ pension contribution. Yes, phase in and shift the employers’ contributions back to the employers, the school boards. That should engender fiscal discipline. But keep the tax cap in place.