August
21, 2018
To
the Honorable Members of
The
Illinois House of Representatives,
100th
General Assembly:
Today
I veto House Bill 5221 from the 100th General Assembly, which would make full-time
paramedics and firefighters who performs paramedic duties eligible for benefits
under the Public Employee Disability Act (PEDA). PEDA entitles injured covered
employees to receive their full salary for up to one year as a disability
award.
This
legislation would operate as an unfunded state mandate on local governments. Expanding
PEDA eligibility to additional groups of employees imposes costs on local
governments and thus local taxpayers. Local governments should have flexibility
to determine benefit and employment conditions for their own employees based on
local resources, needs and labor availability. This Bill limits locals’ ability
to control and curb their operations and spending.
The
Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) is a more appropriate remedy for short term
compensation of these injured employees. The WCA provides benefits equal to 66
2/3% of the employee's average weekly wage and are normally not considered
taxable income. PEDA provides generous benefits to injured employees at 100% of
their weekly salary. These benefits may not be considered taxable income under federal
law, a situation that would potentially allow PEDA covered employees to effectively
increase their take home pay while on a disability award, instead of just
replacing it. This creates a perverse financial motivation to fraudulently
claim a disability injury, which imposes additional unnecessary costs to
taxpayers.
I
have the utmost respect for paramedics in Illinois. Their work is extremely
taxing and critical to the health and survival of many Illinois citizens and
visitors. This Bill, however, puts a significant financial and administrative
burden on local governments at a time when most local governments’ resources
are extremely constrained.
Therefore,
pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I
hereby return House Bill 5221, entitled “AN ACT concerning government,” with
the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
Sincerely,
Bruce
Rauner
GOVERNOR