There’s still some question about what may be in the future for Illinois in terms of pension reform, now that cities all over the state have mounting unfunded pension obligations.

Bukola Bello is a lobbyist with the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, and says while leaders have been meeting on  just how to solve the budget impasse, the problems continue.

Bello says it will take awhile to steady the pension funds, and cities and townships need to make sure their pension funds are doing what they need to do in order to survive, even with a lack of revenue coming into cities and the state.  She says there will be a lot Governor Bruce Rauner and lawmakers will have to say on the issue of reform in the next couple years.

Bello says legislation to that end is expected, and also potentially impacting pensions, what she says is a potential overhaul of the police disciplinary system, and how that could impact collective bargaining rights.

In other State news, the state’s unemployment rate has moved up for the first time in months.

The November jobless rate is 5.7% — up three tenths from the month before.  While the rate is still lower than the same period a year ago, Evelina Loescher with the Illinois Department of Employment Security says that’s not all bad news.

Loescher said a rate rise is never really good news and said if they want to put a positive spin on it, it’s because the labor force grew.

From a year-over-year standpoint, gains in many non-farm payroll sectors were all but cancelled out by losses in others.  In other words, Loescher says, Illinois job gains are far lower than other parts of the country.