97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1726

 

Introduced , by Rep. Keith Farnham

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
40 ILCS 5/2-101  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 2-101
40 ILCS 5/2-105  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 2-105
40 ILCS 5/14-103.05  from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 14-103.05

    Amends the General Assembly Article of the Illinois Pension Code. Restricts participation in the General Assembly Retirement System to persons who were participants in the System before the effective date of the amendatory Act. Requires a person who becomes a constitutional officer or member of the General Assembly on or after that date to participate in the State Employees' Retirement System. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
PENSION IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
5Sections 2-101, 2-105, 2-119.1, 2-126, 14-103.05, 14-133,
618-101, 18-102, and 18-120 as follows:
 
7    (40 ILCS 5/2-101)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 2-101)
8    Sec. 2-101. Creation of system. A retirement system is
9created to provide retirement annuities, survivor's annuities
10and other benefits for certain members of the General Assembly,
11certain elected state officials, and their beneficiaries.
12    The system shall be known as the "General Assembly
13Retirement System". All its funds and property shall be a trust
14separate from all other entities, maintained for the purpose of
15securing payment of annuities and benefits under this Article.
16    Participation in the retirement system created under this
17Article is restricted to persons who become participants before
18the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
19Assembly. Beginning on that date, the System shall not accept
20any new participants.
21(Source: P.A. 83-1440.)
 
22    (40 ILCS 5/2-105)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 2-105)

 

 

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1    Sec. 2-105. Member. "Member": Members of the General
2Assembly of this State, including persons who enter military
3service while a member of the General Assembly, and any person
4serving as Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State,
5Treasurer, Comptroller, or Attorney General for the period of
6service in such office.
7    Any person who has served for 10 or more years as Clerk or
8Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives, Secretary or
9Assistant Secretary of the Senate, or any combination thereof,
10may elect to become a member of this system while thenceforth
11engaged in such service by filing a written election with the
12board. Any person so electing shall be deemed an active member
13of the General Assembly for the purpose of validating and
14transferring any service credits earned under any of the funds
15and systems established under Articles 3 through 18 of this
16Code.
17    However, notwithstanding any other provision of this
18Article, a person shall not be deemed a member for the purposes
19of this Article unless he or she became a participant of the
20System before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
2197th General Assembly.
22(Source: P.A. 85-1008.)
 
23    (40 ILCS 5/14-103.05)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 14-103.05)
24    Sec. 14-103.05. Employee.
25    (a) Any person employed by a Department who receives salary

 

 

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1for personal services rendered to the Department on a warrant
2issued pursuant to a payroll voucher certified by a Department
3and drawn by the State Comptroller upon the State Treasurer,
4including an elected official described in subparagraph (d) of
5Section 14-104, shall become an employee for purpose of
6membership in the Retirement System on the first day of such
7employment.
8    Any person who becomes a constitutional officer or member
9of the General Assembly on or after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and is not eligible
11to participate in the General Assembly Retirement System shall
12be deemed an employee for purposes of membership in this System
13beginning on the first day of such service.
14    A person entering service on or after January 1, 1972 and
15prior to January 1, 1984 shall become a member as a condition
16of employment and shall begin making contributions as of the
17first day of employment.
18    A person entering service on or after January 1, 1984
19shall, upon completion of 6 months of continuous service which
20is not interrupted by a break of more than 2 months, become a
21member as a condition of employment. Contributions shall begin
22the first of the month after completion of the qualifying
23period.
24    A person employed by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for
25Planning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
2695th General Assembly who was a member of this System as an

 

 

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1employee of the Chicago Area Transportation Study and makes an
2election under Section 14-104.13 to participate in this System
3for his or her employment with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency
4for Planning.
5    The qualifying period of 6 months of service is not
6applicable to: (1) a person who has been granted credit for
7service in a position covered by the State Universities
8Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of the State
9of Illinois, the General Assembly Retirement System, or the
10Judges Retirement System of Illinois unless that service has
11been forfeited under the laws of those systems; (2) a person
12entering service on or after July 1, 1991 in a noncovered
13position; (3) a person to whom Section 14-108.2a or 14-108.2b
14applies; or (4) a person to whom subsection (a-5) of this
15Section applies.
16    (a-5) A person entering service on or after December 1,
172010 shall become a member as a condition of employment and
18shall begin making contributions as of the first day of
19employment. A person serving in the qualifying period on
20December 1, 2010 will become a member on December 1, 2010 and
21shall begin making contributions as of December 1, 2010.
22    (b) The term "employee" does not include the following:
23        (1) members of the State Legislature, and persons
24    electing to become members of the General Assembly
25    Retirement System pursuant to Section 2-105;
26        (2) incumbents of offices normally filled by vote of

 

 

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1    the people;
2        (3) except as otherwise provided in this Section, any
3    person appointed by the Governor with the advice and
4    consent of the Senate unless that person elects to
5    participate in this system;
6        (3.1) any person serving as a commissioner of an ethics
7    commission created under the State Officials and Employees
8    Ethics Act unless that person elects to participate in this
9    system with respect to that service as a commissioner;
10        (3.2) any person serving as a part-time employee in any
11    of the following positions: Legislative Inspector General,
12    Special Legislative Inspector General, employee of the
13    Office of the Legislative Inspector General, Executive
14    Director of the Legislative Ethics Commission, or staff of
15    the Legislative Ethics Commission, regardless of whether
16    he or she is in active service on or after July 8, 2004
17    (the effective date of Public Act 93-685), unless that
18    person elects to participate in this System with respect to
19    that service; in this item (3.2), a "part-time employee" is
20    a person who is not required to work at least 35 hours per
21    week;
22        (3.3) any person who has made an election under Section
23    1-123 and who is serving either as legal counsel in the
24    Office of the Governor or as Chief Deputy Attorney General;
25        (4) except as provided in Section 14-108.2 or
26    14-108.2c, any person who is covered or eligible to be

 

 

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1    covered by the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of
2    Illinois, the State Universities Retirement System, or the
3    Judges Retirement System of Illinois;
4        (5) an employee of a municipality or any other
5    political subdivision of the State;
6        (6) any person who becomes an employee after June 30,
7    1979 as a public service employment program participant
8    under the Federal Comprehensive Employment and Training
9    Act and whose wages or fringe benefits are paid in whole or
10    in part by funds provided under such Act;
11        (7) enrollees of the Illinois Young Adult Conservation
12    Corps program, administered by the Department of Natural
13    Resources, authorized grantee pursuant to Title VIII of the
14    "Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973", 29 USC
15    993, as now or hereafter amended;
16        (8) enrollees and temporary staff of programs
17    administered by the Department of Natural Resources under
18    the Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970;
19        (9) any person who is a member of any professional
20    licensing or disciplinary board created under an Act
21    administered by the Department of Professional Regulation
22    or a successor agency or created or re-created after the
23    effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, and who
24    receives per diem compensation rather than a salary,
25    notwithstanding that such per diem compensation is paid by
26    warrant issued pursuant to a payroll voucher; such persons

 

 

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1    have never been included in the membership of this System,
2    and this amendatory Act of 1987 (P.A. 84-1472) is not
3    intended to effect any change in the status of such
4    persons;
5        (10) any person who is a member of the Illinois Health
6    Care Cost Containment Council, and receives per diem
7    compensation rather than a salary, notwithstanding that
8    such per diem compensation is paid by warrant issued
9    pursuant to a payroll voucher; such persons have never been
10    included in the membership of this System, and this
11    amendatory Act of 1987 is not intended to effect any change
12    in the status of such persons;
13        (11) any person who is a member of the Oil and Gas
14    Board created by Section 1.2 of the Illinois Oil and Gas
15    Act, and receives per diem compensation rather than a
16    salary, notwithstanding that such per diem compensation is
17    paid by warrant issued pursuant to a payroll voucher; or
18        (12) a person employed by the State Board of Higher
19    Education in a position with the Illinois Century Network
20    as of June 30, 2004, who remains continuously employed
21    after that date by the Department of Central Management
22    Services in a position with the Illinois Century Network
23    and participates in the Article 15 system with respect to
24    that employment.
25    (c) An individual who represents or is employed as an
26officer or employee of a statewide labor organization that

 

 

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1represents members of this System may participate in the System
2and shall be deemed an employee, provided that (1) the
3individual has previously earned creditable service under this
4Article, (2) the individual files with the System an
5irrevocable election to become a participant within 6 months
6after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th
7General Assembly, and (3) the individual does not receive
8credit for that employment under any other provisions of this
9Code. An employee under this subsection (c) is responsible for
10paying to the System both (i) employee contributions based on
11the actual compensation received for service with the labor
12organization and (ii) employer contributions based on the
13percentage of payroll certified by the board; all or any part
14of these contributions may be paid on the employee's behalf or
15picked up for tax purposes (if authorized under federal law) by
16the labor organization.
17    A person who is an employee as defined in this subsection
18(c) may establish service credit for similar employment prior
19to becoming an employee under this subsection by paying to the
20System for that employment the contributions specified in this
21subsection, plus interest at the effective rate from the date
22of service to the date of payment. However, credit shall not be
23granted under this subsection (c) for any such prior employment
24for which the applicant received credit under any other
25provision of this Code or during which the applicant was on a
26leave of absence.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 95-677, eff. 10-11-07; 96-1490, eff. 1-1-11.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.