Du Quoin Success Story Bill Atwood at Simon Institute
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Bill Atwood grew up among the stacks of albums and beautiful cabinetry of the Magnavox home theater television systems in his father's storied Egyptian Music Store in downtown Du Quoin.
Brother Tom became a success story producing television documentaries as a television correspondent. Sister Cathy--now retired--had an outstanding career in education.
Bill attended SIU-Carbondale and was graduated in 1982. He joined the investment board in 2003.
As executive director of the Illinois State Board of Investment, William R. Atwood returned to Southern Illinois on Tuesday to address guests of the Paul Simon Institute at SIU-C.
He told the institute that the model to fund Illinois' pensions already exists.
Atwood told his audience he still supports a 50-year spending plan developed by then-Gov. Jim Edgar in 1995. The plan calls for pensions to be funded by as much as 90 percent through 2045 as the state becomes more disciplined in funding them.
He adds the recent tax increase was necessary. "To meet these funding requirements there needs to be sacrifice from both parties," Atwood said.
He added that state employees must also makes sacrifices including furlough days.
He says the problem goes back 40 years because pensions were underfunded and monies mis-directed.
Pensions are promised Illinois Constitution. Section 5 of Article XIII in the Illinois Constitution which reads that membership in a pension or retirement system is an "enforceable contractual relationship."
"I don't think you can get around that," Atwood said.
Atwood's topic was "Payment for Services Rendered: The Moral and Legal Necessity of Funding Illinois Public Retirement Systems."
Atwood is responsible for investment and management of pension assets that now total approximately $10.7 billion from the state's three retirement systems. In addition, the ISBI is responsible for the State of Illinois Deferred Compensation Plan, with approximately $3 billion in assets and 56,000 participants.
The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute sponsored the appearance.