Progress Illinois

Tonya Yarbrough, a security officer at the Chicago Stock Exchange at 440 South LaSalle St., wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to commute on the Green Line from Englewood to be at work by 7 a.m. in downtown Chicago. She says she feels safer at work than she does at home.

“If I were paid a little bit more maybe I’d be able to make a better life for myself and my family,” she said. “Maybe I could move to a better neighborhood.”

Yarbrough, 42, a born-and-raised Chicagoan and security officer of nine years, makes $12.65 an hour.

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If Illinois lawmakers do not address the state’s growing pension crisis, essential investments in education, health care, and human services will continue to be cut, according to a recent report (PDF) from the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices For Illinois Children.

“All Illinois residents—including the youngest among us — are paying the price for Illinois’ decades-long failure to make adequate contributions to the state-funded pension plans,” the report, titled “Pension Funding Crisis Worsens” (PDF) reads. “The General Assembly is well aware of the harmful effects of rising pension costs on the rest of the budget. However, progress toward a solution has stalled — making the situation worse.”

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