August 17, 2018

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives,

100th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 5342 from the 100th General Assembly, which allows aldermen and city council members in Chicago who served as firefighters to elect to receive a firefighter pension rather than a municipal employee pension upon retirement.

This change will allow aldermen to keep participating in a more lucrative pension than they would otherwise be able to during their service in city council at Chicago taxpayers’ expense. Changes like this further exacerbate the liabilities of our pension funds and will constrict the Chicago Firefighter Pension Fund’s ability to pay its obligations to other deserving emergency responders.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 5342, entitled “AN ACT concerning public employee benefits,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR