Tagged: Illinois pensions

It looks like lawmakers won't reach an agreement on how to solve Illinois' grossly underfunded pension problem anytime soon.

Legislative leaders met Thursday to find a compromise on their sticking point of who should pay retirement costs for downstate and suburban school districts.

But talks delved into school funding equality. Leaders say they'll take five weeks to study that before discussing pensions.

Meanwhile the state's $85 billion in unfunded liability continues to grow.

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Brian Mackey.

Illinois' pensions systems should get more scrutiny under legislation Governor Pat Quinn signed this afternoon. Illinois will be hiring its first "state actuary."

Until now, Illinois' five state pensions systems have issued their own reports on their financial health.

In the future, an independent "state actuary" will look at the retirement funds for state and university workers, legislators, judges, and public school teachers in the suburbs and downstate.

SLU researchers study meningitis vaccine

Saint Louis University scientists are conducting a clinical trial of a vaccine for the last remaining strain of meningitis without a vaccine.

The university is recruiting children ages 10 to 12 to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Adolescents are the primary carriers of the bacteria that causes the disease. 

Meningococcal meningitis is a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection. Flu-like symptoms can progress rapidly, and death can occur within hours.