HJ0017 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0017 LRB097 00162 JDS 40177 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution provides that "[m]embership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired"; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court has held that the purpose of this provision is to ensure that pension benefits of public employees are not diminished or impaired; and

WHEREAS, Before the adoption of the present Illinois Constitution in 1970, pension benefits were considered in the nature of a gratuity or bounty that could be revoked at will; and

WHEREAS, An increasingly important question is whether a prospective diminishment in pension benefits, meaning a diminishment that applies only to an employee's future service, not to benefits already accrued from the employee's prior service, causes pension benefits to be diminished or impaired; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Pension Reform Task Force; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be charged with assessing whether a prospective diminution in pension benefits for current public employees is consistent with the prohibition on the diminishment and impairment of pension benefits under Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the following:

(1) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(2) one member appointed by the President of the Senate;

(3) one member appointed by the House Minority Leader;

(4) one member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;

(5) one member who shall serve as the Chair of the Task Force, appointed by the Governor; and

(6) and one member appointed by the Attorney General; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the staff of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability shall be responsible for staffing the Task Force in conjunction with the Illinois pension systems' actuaries and staff; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold hearings, no less than one per month, between June of 2011 and December of 2011; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings to the General Assembly and the Governor on or before January 1, 2012.