HJ0059 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0059 LRB096 13019 AMC 27199 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Governor Quinn has proposed a drastic change in the benefits that are offered to public employees who are members of State-funded pension systems; and

WHEREAS, These changes have not been systematically analyzed for their potential impact on how the State of Illinois will be able to attract and retain high quality personnel; and

WHEREAS, The public policy implications of having older individuals performing jobs in the public safety arena have not been thoroughly studied; and

WHEREAS, Pension benefits directly impact the ability of school districts to attract college graduates to the teaching profession, especially in the critical areas of math and science; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-eight percent of all public employees in Illinois do not receive Social Security; and

WHEREAS, The retirement benefits provided by the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois, the State Universities Retirement System, and the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois are the primary source of retirement security for public employees; and

WHEREAS, The cost for the current benefits being earned today is lower than what is paid by a typical employer in the private sector; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has not fulfilled its obligation to properly fund these systems since their inception over 70 years ago; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Pension System Modernization Task Force; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be charged with the following tasks:

(1) analyze the public policy implications of changing pension benefits on the State of Illinois' ability to attract and retain public employees, teachers, and University professionals; and

(2) analyze the level of the current pension benefit structure in Illinois as it compares to other states in the geographical region and to other states that have systems that are not coordinated with Social Security; and

(3) analyze which pension benefits in Illinois should be modernized in order to put Illinois in line with other states; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the following:

(1) two legislative members appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(2) two legislative members appointed by the President of the Senate;

(3) two legislative members appointed by the House Minority Leader;

(4) two legislative members appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;

(5) two members who are statewide education labor union representatives;

(6) two members who are statewide labor union representatives that do not represent an education labor union;

(7) four members who represent the business community, including, but not limited to, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business;

(8) one member appointed by the Governor who shall act as chair; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the staff of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall be responsible for staffing the Task Force in conjunction with the Illinois pension systems actuaries and staff; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold hearings on pension modernization, no less than one per month, between June of 2009 and October of 2009; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall recommend pension benefit changes to modernize these systems; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before November 1, 2009.