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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois
3Constitution provides that "[m]embership in any pension or
4retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or
5school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof,
6shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits
7of which shall not be diminished or impaired"; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court has held that the
9purpose of this provision is to ensure that pension benefits of
10public employees are not diminished or impaired; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Before the adoption of the present Illinois
12Constitution in 1970, pension benefits were considered in the
13nature of a gratuity or bounty that could be revoked at will;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, An increasingly important question is whether a
16prospective diminishment in pension benefits, meaning a
17diminishment that applies only to an employee's future service,
18not to benefits already accrued from the employee's prior
19service, causes pension benefits to be diminished or impaired;
20therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

 

 

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1NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
2SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Pension
3Reform Task Force; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be charged with
5assessing whether a prospective diminution in pension benefits
6for current public employees is consistent with the prohibition
7on the diminishment and impairment of pension benefits under
8Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the
11following:
12        (1) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House;
13        (2) one member appointed by the President of the
14    Senate;
15        (3) one member appointed by the House Minority Leader;
16        (4) one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;
17        (5) one member who shall serve as the Chair of the Task
18    Force, appointed by the Governor; and
19        (6) and one member appointed by the Attorney General;
20    and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the staff of the Commission on Government
22Forecasting and Accountability shall be responsible for
23staffing the Task Force in conjunction with the Illinois

 

 

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1pension systems' actuaries and staff; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold hearings, no less
3than one per month, between June of 2011 and December of 2011;
4and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings to
6the General Assembly and the Governor on or before January 1,
72012.