HR0542 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0542 LRB097 13869 GRL 58438 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Public Act 93-0002 amended the General Obligation Bond Act to increase bond authorization by $10 billion; and

WHEREAS, These 30-year general obligation bonds were designated as a pension funding series; the State of Illinois used a portion of the bond proceeds to pay part of the Fiscal Year 2003 State contribution and all of the Fiscal Year 2004 State contributions to the retirement systems; and

WHEREAS, Of the $10 billion that was allocated, $7.3 billion was used to reduce the unfunded liabilities of the State-funded retirement systems; and

WHEREAS, Along with the $10 billion increase in bond authorization, Public Act 93-0002 included a provision requiring State contributions to the retirement systems to be reduced by the amount of the debt service on the bonds; and

WHEREAS, The State will be paying off the principal and debt on these bonds until 2033; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has the worst funded pension system in the nation, with around $85 billion in unfunded liability; and

WHEREAS, The bonding for 2003 was supposed to reduce the unfunded liability in the pensions systems and reduce the pension systems' financial cost to the State; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall study the impact of Public Act 93-0002 and the true cost of the bill versus the projected savings and create a report on its findings; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall release its report, report all of its findings to the Illinois General Assembly and Governor, and publish all findings on the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability website by July 1, 2012.