Full Text of HB1297 103rd General Assembly
HB1297eng 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 16-127 as follows:
| 6 | | (40 ILCS 5/16-127) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 16-127)
| 7 | | Sec. 16-127. Computation of creditable service.
| 8 | | (a) Each member shall receive regular credit for all
| 9 | | service as a teacher from the date membership begins, for | 10 | | which
satisfactory evidence is supplied and all contributions | 11 | | have been paid.
| 12 | | (b) The following periods of service shall earn optional | 13 | | credit and
each member shall receive credit for all such | 14 | | service for which
satisfactory evidence is supplied and all | 15 | | contributions have been paid as
of the date specified:
| 16 | | (1) Prior service as a teacher.
| 17 | | (2) Service in a capacity essentially similar or | 18 | | equivalent to that of a
teacher, in the public common | 19 | | schools in school districts in this State not
included | 20 | | within the provisions of this System, or of any other | 21 | | State,
territory, dependency or possession of the United | 22 | | States, or in schools
operated by or under the auspices of | 23 | | the United States, or under the
auspices of any agency or |
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| 1 | | department of any other State, and service during
any | 2 | | period of professional speech correction or special | 3 | | education
experience for a public agency within this State | 4 | | or any other State,
territory, dependency or possession of | 5 | | the United States, and service prior
to February 1, 1951 | 6 | | as a recreation worker for the Illinois Department of
| 7 | | Public Safety, for a period not exceeding the lesser of | 8 | | 2/5 of the total
creditable service of the member or 10 | 9 | | years. The maximum service of 10
years which is allowable | 10 | | under this paragraph shall be reduced by the
service | 11 | | credit which is validated by other retirement systems | 12 | | under
paragraph (i) of Section 15-113 and paragraph 1 of | 13 | | Section 17-133. Credit
granted under this paragraph may | 14 | | not be used in determination of a
retirement annuity or | 15 | | disability benefits unless the member has at least 5
years | 16 | | of creditable service earned subsequent to this employment | 17 | | with one
or more of the following systems: Teachers' | 18 | | Retirement System of the State
of Illinois, State | 19 | | Universities Retirement System, and the Public School
| 20 | | Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago. Whenever | 21 | | such service
credit exceeds the maximum allowed for all | 22 | | purposes of this Article, the
first service rendered in | 23 | | point of time shall be considered.
The changes to this | 24 | | subdivision (b)(2) made by Public Act 86-272 shall
apply | 25 | | not only to persons who on or after its effective date | 26 | | (August 23,
1989) are in service as a teacher under the |
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| 1 | | System, but also to persons
whose status as such a teacher | 2 | | terminated prior to such effective date,
whether or not | 3 | | such person is an annuitant on that date.
| 4 | | (3) Any periods immediately following teaching | 5 | | service, under this
System or under Article 17, (or | 6 | | immediately following service prior to
February 1, 1951 as | 7 | | a recreation worker for the Illinois Department of
Public | 8 | | Safety) spent in active service with the military forces | 9 | | of the
United States; periods spent in educational | 10 | | programs that prepare for
return to teaching sponsored by | 11 | | the federal government following such
active military | 12 | | service; if a teacher returns to teaching service within
| 13 | | one calendar year after discharge or after the completion | 14 | | of the
educational program, a further period, not | 15 | | exceeding one calendar year,
between time spent in | 16 | | military service or in such educational programs and
the | 17 | | return to employment as a teacher under this System; and a | 18 | | period of up
to 2 years of active military service not | 19 | | immediately following employment
as a teacher.
| 20 | | The changes to this Section and Section 16-128 | 21 | | relating to military
service made by P.A. 87-794 shall | 22 | | apply not only to persons who on or after its
effective | 23 | | date are in service as a teacher under the System, but also | 24 | | to
persons whose status as a teacher terminated prior to | 25 | | that date, whether or not
the person is an annuitant on | 26 | | that date. In the case of an annuitant who
applies for |
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| 1 | | credit allowable under this Section for a period of | 2 | | military
service that did not immediately follow | 3 | | employment, and who has made the
required contributions | 4 | | for such credit, the annuity shall be recalculated to
| 5 | | include the additional service credit, with the increase | 6 | | taking effect on the
date the System received written | 7 | | notification of the annuitant's intent to
purchase the | 8 | | credit, if payment of all the required contributions is | 9 | | made
within 60 days of such notice, or else on the first | 10 | | annuity payment date
following the date of payment of the | 11 | | required contributions. In calculating
the automatic | 12 | | annual increase for an annuity that has been recalculated | 13 | | under
this Section, the increase attributable to the | 14 | | additional service allowable
under P.A. 87-794 shall be | 15 | | included in the calculation of automatic annual
increases | 16 | | accruing after the effective date of the recalculation.
| 17 | | Credit for military service shall be determined as | 18 | | follows: if entry
occurs during the months of July, | 19 | | August, or September and the member was a
teacher at the | 20 | | end of the immediately preceding school term, credit shall
| 21 | | be granted from July 1 of the year in which he or she | 22 | | entered service; if
entry occurs during the school term | 23 | | and the teacher was in teaching service
at the beginning | 24 | | of the school term, credit shall be granted from July 1 of
| 25 | | such year. In all other cases where credit for military | 26 | | service is allowed,
credit shall be granted from the date |
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| 1 | | of entry into the service.
| 2 | | The total period of military service for which credit | 3 | | is granted shall
not exceed 5 years for any member unless | 4 | | the service: (A) is validated
before July 1, 1964, and (B) | 5 | | does not extend beyond July 1, 1963. Credit
for military | 6 | | service shall be granted under this Section only if not | 7 | | more
than 5 years of the military service for which credit | 8 | | is granted under this
Section is used by the member to | 9 | | qualify for a military retirement
allotment from any | 10 | | branch of the armed forces of the United States. The
| 11 | | changes to this subdivision (b)(3) made by Public Act | 12 | | 86-272 shall apply
not only to persons who on or after its | 13 | | effective date (August 23, 1989)
are in service as a | 14 | | teacher under the System, but also to persons whose
status | 15 | | as such a teacher terminated prior to such effective date, | 16 | | whether
or not such person is an annuitant on that date.
| 17 | | (4) Any periods served as a member of the General | 18 | | Assembly.
| 19 | | (5)(i) Any periods for which a teacher, as defined in | 20 | | Section
16-106, is granted a leave of absence, provided he | 21 | | or she returns to teaching
service creditable under this | 22 | | System or the State Universities Retirement
System | 23 | | following the leave; (ii) periods during which a teacher | 24 | | is
involuntarily laid off from teaching, provided he or | 25 | | she returns to teaching
following the lay-off; (iii) | 26 | | periods prior to July 1, 1983 during which
a teacher |
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| 1 | | ceased covered employment due to pregnancy, provided that | 2 | | the teacher
returned to teaching service creditable under | 3 | | this System or the State
Universities Retirement System | 4 | | following the pregnancy and submits evidence
satisfactory | 5 | | to the Board documenting that the employment ceased due to
| 6 | | pregnancy; and (iv) periods prior to July 1, 1983 during | 7 | | which a teacher
ceased covered employment for the purpose | 8 | | of adopting an infant under 3 years
of age or caring for a | 9 | | newly adopted infant under 3 years of age, provided that
| 10 | | the teacher returned to teaching service creditable under | 11 | | this System or the
State Universities Retirement System | 12 | | following the adoption and submits
evidence satisfactory | 13 | | to the Board documenting that the employment ceased for
| 14 | | the purpose of adopting an infant under 3 years of age or | 15 | | caring for a newly
adopted infant under 3 years of age. | 16 | | However, total credit under this
paragraph (5) may not | 17 | | exceed 3 years.
| 18 | | Any qualified member or annuitant may apply for credit | 19 | | under item (iii)
or (iv) of this paragraph (5) without | 20 | | regard to whether service was
terminated before the | 21 | | effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997. In the case | 22 | | of an annuitant who establishes credit under item (iii)
or | 23 | | (iv), the annuity shall be recalculated to include the | 24 | | additional
service credit. The increase in annuity shall | 25 | | take effect on the date the
System receives written | 26 | | notification of the annuitant's intent to purchase the
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| 1 | | credit, if the required evidence is submitted and the | 2 | | required contribution
paid within 60 days of that | 3 | | notification, otherwise on the first annuity
payment date | 4 | | following the System's receipt of the required evidence | 5 | | and
contribution. The increase in an annuity recalculated | 6 | | under this provision
shall be included in the calculation | 7 | | of automatic annual increases in the
annuity accruing | 8 | | after the effective date of the recalculation.
| 9 | | Optional credit may be purchased under this subsection | 10 | | (b)(5) for
periods during which a teacher has been granted | 11 | | a leave of absence pursuant
to Section 24-13 of the School | 12 | | Code. A teacher whose service under this
Article | 13 | | terminated prior to the effective date of P.A. 86-1488 | 14 | | shall be
eligible to purchase such optional credit. If a | 15 | | teacher who purchases this
optional credit is already | 16 | | receiving a retirement annuity under this Article,
the | 17 | | annuity shall be recalculated as if the annuitant had | 18 | | applied for the leave
of absence credit at the time of | 19 | | retirement. The difference between the
entitled annuity | 20 | | and the actual annuity shall be credited to the purchase | 21 | | of
the optional credit. The remainder of the purchase cost | 22 | | of the optional credit
shall be paid on or before April 1, | 23 | | 1992.
| 24 | | The change in this paragraph made by Public Act 86-273 | 25 | | shall
be applicable to teachers who retire after June 1, | 26 | | 1989, as well as to
teachers who are in service on that |
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| 1 | | date.
| 2 | | (6) Any days of unused and uncompensated accumulated | 3 | | sick leave earned
by a teacher. The service credit granted | 4 | | under this paragraph shall be the
ratio of the number of | 5 | | unused and uncompensated accumulated sick leave days
to | 6 | | 170 days, subject to a maximum of 2 years of service
| 7 | | credit. Prior to the member's retirement, each former | 8 | | employer shall
certify to the System the number of unused | 9 | | and uncompensated accumulated
sick leave days credited to | 10 | | the member at the time of termination of service.
The | 11 | | period of unused sick leave shall not be considered in | 12 | | determining
the effective date of retirement. A member is | 13 | | not required to make
contributions in order to obtain | 14 | | service credit for unused sick leave.
| 15 | | Credit for sick leave shall, at retirement, be granted | 16 | | by the System
for any retiring regional or assistant | 17 | | regional superintendent of schools
at the rate of 6 days | 18 | | per year of creditable service or portion thereof
| 19 | | established while serving as such superintendent or | 20 | | assistant
superintendent.
| 21 | | (7) Periods prior to February 1, 1987 served as an | 22 | | employee of the
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy | 23 | | for which credit has not been
terminated under Section | 24 | | 15-113.9 of this Code.
| 25 | | (8) Service as a substitute teacher for work performed
| 26 | | prior to July 1, 1990.
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| 1 | | (9) Service as a part-time teacher for work performed
| 2 | | prior to July 1, 1990.
| 3 | | (10) Up to 2 years of employment with Southern | 4 | | Illinois University -
Carbondale from September 1, 1959 to | 5 | | August 31, 1961, or with Governors
State University from | 6 | | September 1, 1972 to August 31, 1974, for which the
| 7 | | teacher has no credit under Article 15. To receive credit | 8 | | under this item
(10), a teacher must apply in writing to | 9 | | the Board and pay the required
contributions before May 1, | 10 | | 1993 and have at least 12 years of service
credit under | 11 | | this Article.
| 12 | | (b-1) A member may establish optional credit for up to 2 | 13 | | years of service
as a teacher or administrator employed by a | 14 | | private school recognized by the
Illinois State Board of | 15 | | Education, provided that the teacher (i) was certified
under | 16 | | the law governing the certification of teachers at the time | 17 | | the service
was rendered, (ii) applies in writing on or before | 18 | | June 30, 2028 2023 , (iii) supplies satisfactory evidence of | 19 | | the employment, (iv)
completes at least 10 years of | 20 | | contributing service as a teacher as defined in
Section | 21 | | 16-106, and (v) pays the contribution required in subsection | 22 | | (d-5) of
Section 16-128. The member may apply for credit under | 23 | | this subsection and pay
the required contribution before | 24 | | completing the 10 years of contributing
service required under | 25 | | item (iv), but the credit may not be used until the
item (iv) | 26 | | contributing service requirement has been met.
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| 1 | | (c) The service credits specified in this Section shall be | 2 | | granted only
if: (1) such service credits are not used for | 3 | | credit in any other statutory
tax-supported public employee | 4 | | retirement system other than the federal Social
Security | 5 | | program; and (2) the member makes the required contributions | 6 | | as
specified in Section 16-128. Except as provided in | 7 | | subsection (b-1) of
this Section, the service credit shall be | 8 | | effective as of the date the
required contributions are | 9 | | completed.
| 10 | | Any service credits granted under this Section shall | 11 | | terminate upon
cessation of membership for any cause.
| 12 | | Credit may not be granted under this Section covering any | 13 | | period for
which an age retirement or disability retirement | 14 | | allowance has been paid.
| 15 | | Credit may not be granted under this Section for service | 16 | | as an employee of an entity that provides substitute teaching | 17 | | services under Section 2-3.173 of the School Code and is not a | 18 | | school district. | 19 | | (Source: P.A. 102-525, eff. 8-20-21.)
| 20 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 | | becoming law.
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