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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Governor Quinn has proposed a drastic change in
3 the benefits that are offered to public employees who are
4 members of State-funded pension systems; and
 
5     WHEREAS, These changes have not been systematically
6 analyzed for their potential impact on how the State of
7 Illinois will be able to attract and retain high quality
8 personnel; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The public policy implications of having older
10 individuals performing jobs in the public safety arena have not
11 been thoroughly studied; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Pension benefits directly impact the ability of
13 school districts to attract college graduates to the teaching
14 profession, especially in the critical areas of math and
15 science; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Seventy-eight percent of all public employees in
17 Illinois do not receive Social Security; and
 
18     WHEREAS, The retirement benefits provided by the Teachers'
19 Retirement System of the State of Illinois, the State
20 Universities Retirement System, and the State Employees'

 

 

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1 Retirement System of Illinois are the primary source of
2 retirement security for public employees; and
 
3     WHEREAS, The cost for the current benefits being earned
4 today is lower than what is paid by a typical employer in the
5 private sector; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has not fulfilled its
7 obligation to properly fund these systems since their inception
8 over 70 years ago; therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
11 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Pension
12 System Modernization Task Force; and be it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be charged with the
14 following tasks:
15         (1) analyze the public policy implications of changing
16     pension benefits on the State of Illinois' ability to
17     attract and retain public employees, teachers, and
18     University professionals; and
19         (2) analyze the level of the current pension benefit
20     structure in Illinois as it compares to other states in the
21     geographical region and to other states that have systems
22     that are not coordinated with Social Security; and

 

 

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1         (3) analyze which pension benefits in Illinois should
2     be modernized in order to put Illinois in line with other
3     states; and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the
5 following:
6         (1) two legislative members appointed by the Speaker of
7     the House;
8         (2) two legislative members appointed by the President
9     of the Senate;
10         (3) two legislative members appointed by the House
11     Minority Leader;
12         (4) two legislative members appointed by the Senate
13     Minority Leader;
14         (5) two members who are statewide education labor union
15     representatives;
16         (6) two members who are statewide labor union
17     representatives that do not represent an education labor
18     union;
19         (7) four members who represent the business community,
20     including, but not limited to, the Illinois Chamber of
21     Commerce, the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, the
22     Illinois Retail Merchants Association, and the National
23     Federation of Independent Business;
24         (8) one member appointed by the Governor who shall act
25     as chair; and be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That the staff of the Commission on Government
2 Forecasting and Accountability shall be responsible for
3 staffing the Task Force in conjunction with the Illinois
4 pension systems actuaries and staff; and be it further
 
5     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold hearings on
6 pension modernization, no less than one per month, between June
7 of 2009 and October of 2009; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall recommend pension
9 benefit changes to modernize these systems; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings to
11 the General Assembly and the Governor on or before November 1,
12 2009.