Court ruling on unions no lifesaver for Illinois' sinking finances

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that dealt a blow to public sector labor unions will not be a fix, at least in the short term, for massive financial problems in Illinois, where the case was filed, public finance and economic experts said. The 5-4 ruling in the case brought by state worker Mark Janus found that forcing workers who opt out of unions to pay so-called fair-share dues to labor organizations violated free speech rights. The opinion cited Illinois' "severe budget problems," including a nearly $160 billion unfunded liability for pensions and retiree healthcare in 2013, a huge pile of unpaid bills, and near-junk level credit ratings.

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