Full Text of HJR0017 97th General Assembly
HJ0017 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois | 3 | | Constitution provides that "[m]embership in any pension or | 4 | | retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or | 5 | | school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, | 6 | | shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits | 7 | | of which shall not be diminished or impaired"; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Supreme Court has held that the | 9 | | purpose of this provision is to ensure that pension benefits of | 10 | | public employees are not diminished or impaired; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Before the adoption of the present Illinois | 12 | | Constitution in 1970, pension benefits were considered in the | 13 | | nature of a gratuity or bounty that could be revoked at will; | 14 | | and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, An increasingly important question is whether a | 16 | | prospective diminishment in pension benefits, meaning a | 17 | | diminishment that applies only to an employee's future service, | 18 | | not to benefits already accrued from the employee's prior | 19 | | service, causes pension benefits to be diminished or impaired; | 20 | | therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| 1 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 2 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Pension | 3 | | Reform Task Force; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be charged with | 5 | | assessing whether a prospective diminution in pension benefits | 6 | | for current public employees is consistent with the prohibition | 7 | | on the diminishment and impairment of pension benefits under | 8 | | Article XIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the | 11 | | following: | 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 | 22 | | Forecasting and Accountability shall be responsible for | 23 | | staffing the Task Force in conjunction with the Illinois |
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| 1 | | pension systems' actuaries and staff; and be it further | 2 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold hearings, no less | 3 | | than one per month, between June of 2011 and December of 2011; | 4 | | and be it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings to | 6 | | the General Assembly and the Governor on or before January 1, | 7 | | 2012.
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